The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway granted consent to RWE-Dea Norge to perform exploratory drilling on well 35/9-6 S in Production License PL 420 using the Bredford Dolphin semisub. The well is located in a water depth of 1,211 feet (369 meters), and drilling should take about 55 days. RWE-Dea operates the license, holding a 30% interest; Statoil holds 40%; and Idemitsu holds the remaining 30%.

RWEA-DEA Norge AS has received consent to carry out exploration drilling of well 35/9-6 S in production license PL 420 with Bredford Dolphin.

The purpose of the exploration well is to verify the hydrocarbon potential in a formation in production license PL 420.

The well will be located approx. 12 km west of the Gjøa field and approx. 50 km west of the Norwegian coast. The well has the following geographical coordinates:

•N 61° 22' 16.29" •E 03° 41' 33.54" Water depth at the site is 369 meters.

The plan is for drilling to start in the beginning of August and last about 55 days.

The well will be drilled with the semi-submersible mobile drilling facility Bredford Dolphin, which is owned by Fred Olsen ASA and operated by Dolphin AS. The facility is of the Aker H-3 type. It was built in 1976 and upgraded in 2007. The facility received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA on 28 June 2007.

Tags: Petroleum Safety Authority, RWE Dea