NPD grants drilling permit for wildcat northeast of Edvard Grieg

STAVANGER -- The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Lundin Norway AS a drilling permit for well 16/1-31 S, cf. Section 15 of the Resource Management Regulations.

The well will be drilled from the Leiv Eiriksson drilling facility in position 58°51'47.57"N and 02°18'12.33"E after completing the drilling of wildcat well 7121/1-2 S in the Barents Sea.

The drilling program for well 16/1-31 S relates to the drilling of wildcat wells in production license 338, where Lundin Norway AS is operator with an ownership interest of 65%. The other licensees are OMV (Norge) AS (20%) and Wintershall Norge AS (15%).

The area in this licence consists of a part of block 16/1. The well will be drilled about four km northeast of the Edvard Grieg facility in the central part of the North Sea.

Production license 338 was awarded on Dec. 17, 2004 (APA 2004). This is the 11th exploration well to be drilled in the current license, but wildcat wells have previously been drilled within the licence area.

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