The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Det norske oljeselskap AS a drilling permit for well 16/1-22 A, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations.

Well 16/1-22 A will be drilled from the Maersk Interceptor drilling facility in position 58°54'23.1'' north and 02°09'43.2'' east in production licence 001 B, after completing drilling of appraisal well 16/1-22 S.

The drilling programme for well 16/1-22 A relates to the drilling of an appraisal well on the Ivar Aasen field, where Det norske is the operator with an ownership interest of 34.7862 per cent. The other licensees are Statoil Petroleum AS (41.4730 per cent), Bayerngas Norge AS (12.3173 per cent), Wintershall Norge AS (6.4615 per cent), VNG Norge AS (3.0230 per cent), Lundin Norway AS (1.3850 per cent) and OMV (Norge) AS (0.5540 per cent).

The area in this licence is part of block 16/1. The well will be drilled in the south-western part of the Ivar Aasen field in the central part of the North Sea.

Production licence 001 B was carved out on 1 September 1999 from production licence 001, which was awarded on 1 September 1965 (Licensing Round 1-A). This is the eighth exploration well to be drilled within the licence area, and the tenth on the Ivar Aasen field.

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

Tags: Det norske oljeselskap ASA, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate