Statoil ASA (Statoil) has received consent to drill an exploration well in block 6507/8 in the Norwegian Sea.
The well is to be drilled in a prospect named Carmen in block 6507/8 at Haltenbanken. The site is 222 kilometres west of Brønnøysund in Nordland county and 10 kilometres north-east of Heidrun, at geographical coordinates:
65o 25' 01.04 N
07o 26' 21.71 E
A pilot well will be drilled first, down to 800 metres, to investigate if there is shallow gas in the area. Water depth at the site is 358 metres.
The drilling is estimated to last for 18 days, and will begin in mid-June.
The well is to be drilled by Deepsea Bergen, which is a semi-submersible drilling facility of the Aker H-3.2 type, built at Aker Verdal in 1983. It is owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling. It is classified by DNV GL and registered in Norway.
Deepsea Bergen was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in December 2001.