Equinor Granted Permission to Drill Wildcat Well in Barents Sea

Published

The Transocean Enabler drilling rig (Photo: Jan Arne Wold / Equinor)
The Transocean Enabler drilling rig (Photo: Jan Arne Wold / Equinor)

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Equinor a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the Barents Sea, to be conducted with Transocean Enabler semi-submersible drilling rig.

The permit is for the 7220/2-2 exploration well in production license 1080, where Equinor is the operator (50%), along with the partners Vår Energi (30%), and Petoro (20%). The license is valid until February 14, 2027.

The drilling operations will be conducted using Transocean’s Transocean Enabler harsh environment semi-submersible drilling rig.

Transocean Enabler rig is of GVA 4000 NCS design, built by DSME Shipyard in 2016. It is capable of operating at maximum water depths of 500 meters, with maximum drilling depth of 8,500 meters.

In April 2023, Transocean secured a 19-well contract in Norway with Equinor for Transocean Enabler rig, at a rate of $377,000 per day at the time, as adjusted for foreign currency exchange plus eight option wells.

The contract expires in October 2025.


Current News

Ndungu Full-Field Starts Up Offshore Angola

Ndungu Full-Field Starts Up Of

Norway's 2025 Oil Output Climbs to Highest Level Since 2009

Norway's 2025 Oil Output Climb

AKOFS Offshore Inks New Vessel Deal with Petrobras

AKOFS Offshore Inks New Vessel

UK Trade Body Challenges Government View on North Sea Gas Decline

UK Trade Body Challenges Gover

Subscribe for OE Digital E‑News

 
Offshore Engineer Magazine