Norway’s Equinor Secures Drilling Permit for Barents Sea Exploration Well

Norway’s state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor has secured a drilling permit for an exploration well in the Barents Sea, which will be drilled next month with COSL Drilling Europe’s semi-submersible rig.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Equinor a drilling permit for the wellbore 7117/4-1 in production license 1238, which is valid from March 15, 2024, up to the same date in 2031.

Equinor is the operator of the license with a 40% stake, while Vår Energi, Aker BP, and Petoro, each holding 20%, respectively, act as its partners in the Barents Sea license.

Upcoming Drilling Operation

The well 7117/4-1 is on the agenda to be drilled in July 2025 with COSL’s COSL Prospector semi-submersible rig, which got a two-year contract in September 2023 with Vår Energi in the Barents Sea and started the job in the third quarter of 2024.

Rig Deal and Collaboration

This rig deal, with three years of extension options for a maximum duration of five years, builds on the cooperation between Vår Energi and Equinor, enabling the duo to secure access to the rig for the 2024-2026 period.

With a maximum drilling depth of 7,500 meters, the COSL Prospector rig is of GG5000 design and can operate in water depths up to 1,500 meters.

Previous Successes

The rig was used last year to confirm oil in the appraisal well 7122/8-2 S, drilled in the Barents Sea to delineate the Countach discovery.