Norwegian oil company Equinor has obtained regulatory consent for the use of Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Atlantic semi-submersible drilling rig at the Johan Sverdrup oil field.
The consent was granted by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and is for production drilling at the giant North Sea oil field, on the Utsira High in the central part of the North Sea, off Norway.
"The consent covers the drilling the use of the mobile drilling facility Deepsea Atlantic for production drilling/completion/temporary plugging at the Johan Sverdrup field," the PSA Norway said.
Production from the first phase of the Johan Sverdrup oil field, sitting in the water depth of 115 meters, started in 2019. The field has output capacity of around 535,000 barrels of oil per day.
During the same year when the first phase started production, the second phase was approved, and the development of this phase is ongoing with production start-up expected in 2022.
Equinor, the operator of the Johan Sverdrup field earlier this year upgraded output expectations for Phase II, with full-field gross production capacity of 755 thousand barrels of oil per day (Mbopd) expected once Phase 2 is on stream in late 2022.
