The company said that the steel jacket and pre-drilling module installation have been installed recently at the field, following which the Maersk Integrator rig was deployed in preparation for drilling.
Statoil drilling supervisor Tonny Lemqvist said: "We will now drill and firstly install ten 30 inch conductors.
"We will then drill the top section of six wells.
"The plan is that two to three wells will be drilled into the reservoir before the topside arrives from South Korea."
Until 2019, the Maersk Integrator rig will be used for drilling and completion of fourteen wells at Gina Krog oil and gas discovery located in water depth of approximately 120m.
Expected to produce 60,000 barrels of oil/day and 9 million cubic meters of gas/day at plateau capacity, the field is planned to go on stream in the first quarter of 2017.
Total E&P Norge holds a 30% stake in the Gina Krog field while Statoil and Det Norske will have 58.7% and 3.3% interests respectively. The remaining 8% stake is owned by PGNiG Upstream International.
Image: The Maersk Integrator rig installed at the Gina Krog field in the North Sea. Photo: courtesy of Eva Sleire/Statoil.
