The wells are the first and second exploration wells to be drilled in the production licence 882 offshore Norway

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The wells will be drilled nearly 10km northwest of the Snorre field. (Credit: FreeImages/QR9iudjz0)

Neptune Energy Norge has secured a drilling permit from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for two wells offshore Norway.

The drilling permit has been given to the wells 34/4-15 S and 34/4-15 A in production licence 882 in the North Sea.

The wells will be drilled nearly 10km northwest of the Snorre field, which is located in the Tampen area in the northern part of the North Sea.

They are the first and second exploration wells to be drilled in the production licence 882, which was awarded in February 2017.

Neptune Energy Norge is the operator of the licence with an ownership stake of 40%. The other licensees include Concedo, Petrolia NOCO and Idemitsu Petroleum Norge, with each owning a 20% stake.

The drilling permit secured by the licence operator is subject to securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities before the start of the drilling activity.

Neptune Energy to use Deepsea Yantai drilling facility to drill the wells

The Deepsea Yantai drilling facility will be used to drill the wells after the completion of the drilling of production wells on the Duva field.

The Duva field will be developed with a four-slot subsea template. It will be tied back to the Gjøa platform for processing and export.

The field development will include drilling of three production wells, two oil producers and a gas producer.

Recently, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway has given consent to Neptune Energy to use the Deepsea Yantai drilling rig for production drilling at its Gjøa field, offshore Norway.

Owned by the Norwegian offshore drilling firm Odfjell Drilling, the Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible drilling rig was built at the CIMC Raffles yard in China.