BG Norge AS has been granted consent to carry out exploration drilling of well 6604/2-1 in the Norwegian Sea with the mobile facility Aker Barents.

The well will be drilled in production licence 522, 374 kilometres west of Brønnøysund. The water depth at the site is approx. 1266 metres.

The drilling is scheduled to start in March 2011 and will last 64 days. If any discoveries are made that warrant formation testing and drilling of a sidetrack well, the activity will last longer.

Aker Barents is a so-called 6th generation semi-submersible drilling facility constructed in accordance with the H-6e concept for drilling operations at water depths of up to 3000 metres and in Arctic regions.

The facility was delivered as a new build the summer of 2009, built by Aker Solutions at the Stord yard in Norway