INEOS E&P Norge has obtained a drilling permit from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate for an offshore exploration well in the Norwegian Sea.
INEOS will drill the well, formally named "Well 6306/3-1 S" - the Fat Canyon Prospect - using the Borgland Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig.
The well site is located in the production licence 937, where INEOS is the operator with an 85 percent stake.
The other licensee is Lime Petroleum, holding the remaining 15 percent. This is the first exploration well to be drilled in the license and the first operated well offshore Norway for INEOS.
The well will be drilled about 15 kilometers south of 6406/12-4 S (Boomerang) on the Fenja field.
Back in July, Norway's oil and gas safety watchdog Petroleum Safety Authority Norway gave INEOS consent for the well, too. The water depth at the site is 241 meters, and the well should take at least 40 days to complete.
INEOS' Norwegian business was formed in established in 2017, when INEOS acquired the company from former DONG Energy.
INEOS, owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, in March 2021 agreed to sell earlier this year sell its Oil and Gas business in Norway to Poland's PGNiG for $615 million. The deal includes all INEOS Oil & Gas interests in production, licenses, fields, facilities, and pipelines, on the Norwegian continental shelf and is expected to close this year.
INEOS E&P Norge produces around 33,000 BOE per day from the Norwegian Sea. A 93% gas ratio, from 3 non-operated fields, Ormen Lange (14%), Alve (15%), and Marulk (30%). The business also holds 22 offshore licenses, of which 6 are operated, and has equity in the Nyhamna Terminal (8%).
All 52 employees of INEOS E&P Norge AS will transfer to PGNiG Upstream Norway AS following completion of the deal, INEOS said in March.
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