Aker BP Cleared To Drill Off Norway

Norway’s Aker BP has been cleared by authorities to drill a wildcat well targeting the Kark prospect off the coast of Norway, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on August 1.

The well will be drilled at the Aker BP-operated production licence 019C in the North Sea some 276 km southwest of Stavanger, using the Maersk Interceptor jack-up rig. According to a previous statement by Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), drilling is set to start in the second half of August and take 40 days to complete. It will be sunk in waters 66 metres deep.

Licence 019C was first awarded in 1998, although this is the first well to be drilled at the site, near ConocoPhillips’ Ekofisk field and Spanish Repsol’s Gydan field. Aker BP, formed from the merger of BP’s Norwegian oil assets with local firm Det Norske in 2016, operates 019C with an 80% stake. The remaining 20% interest is held by Hungary’s MOL.