The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Statoil Petroleum AS a drilling permit for well 16/7-11, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations.

Well 16/7-11 will be drilled from the Songa Trym drilling facility in position 58°22'52.98'' north 02°04'05.00'' east.

The drilling programme for well 16/7-11 relates to the drilling of a wildcat well in production licence 072 B. Statoil is the operator with a 50 per cent ownership interest. The other licensee is ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Norway AS with 50 per cent.

The area in this licence consists of parts of block 16/7. The well will be drilled east of the Sleipner Øst field in the central sector of the North Sea.

Production licence 072 B was awarded on 24 September 2001. This is the second exploration well to be drilled in the licence.

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

Tags: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate