Johan Sverdrup leaders back on exploration trail offshore North Sea

Offshore staff

OSLO, Norway – Statoil and Lundin Petroleum are set to resume appraisal drilling in the Johan Sverdrup area of the North Sea.

This follows authorization from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate for Statoil’s well 16/2-14 in license PL 265, to be drilled by the semisubmersibleOcean Vanguard, and for Lundin’s well 16/2-13 A, to be drilled by the semi Transocean Arctic in adjacent PL 501.

Statoil’s well will be drilled about 3 km (1.8 mi) southwest of well 16/2-10. Lundin’s will be a side track, drilled about 2.4 km (1.5 mi) northeast of the 16/2-6 discovery well and 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of the 16/3-4 appraisal well on Johan Sverdrup.

Statoil also has consent from Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway for exploration drilling on the Troll field in the North Sea. Well 31/2-P-24 AH will be drilled by theStena Don as a side track of an existing production well 31/2-P-24 H. The aim is to investigate a prospect in the Brent formation.

The program should start in Sept. 16 and last 30 days. Water depth is 338.5 m (1,110 ft).

PSA has approved Det norske Oljeselskap’s petition for an exploratory well in the southern Norwegian North Sea. The jackupMaersk Guardian will drill well 7/11-13 on PL 497. If a discovery results, a side track could follow.

The location is roughly 29 km (18 mi) northwest of the BP-operated Ula field center. Drilling could last up to 135 days, including the side track.

9/4/2012