The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted GDF Suez Norge AS a drilling permit for well 7124/4-1 S, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations.

Well 7124/4-1 S will be drilled from the Aker Barents drilling facility at position 71°35'16.16" north and 24°5'56.84" east after completing the drilling of wildcat well 6508/1-2 for Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA in production license 482.

The drilling program for wellbore 7124/4-1 S relates to drilling a wildcat well in production license 530. GDF Suez Norge AS is the operator with a 30 percent ownership interest. The other licensees are Rocksource ASA (20 percent), Front Exploration AS (20 percent), North Energy ASA (20 percent) and Repsol Exploration Norge AS (10 percent).

The area in this license consists of the blocks 7123/6 and 7124/4. The well will be drilled about 100 kilometers north of Hammerfest and about 70 kilometers northeast of the Goliat field.

Production license 530 was awarded in the 20th licensing round. This is the first well to be drilled in the license.

The permit is contingent upon the operator securing all permits and consents required by other authorities prior to commencing drilling activity.

Tags: GDF SUEZ, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate