The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted MOL Norge AS a drilling permit for well 25/8-22 S, cf. Section 13 of the Resource Management Regulations.

Well 25/8-22 S will be drilled from the Transocean Barents drilling facility in position 59°21’15.579″N and 02°22’35.984″E.

The drilling programme for well 25/8-22 S relates to the drilling of an appraisal well in production licence 820 S. MOL Norge AS is the operator with an ownership interest of 40 per cent.

The other licensees are Lundin Energy Norway AS (41 per cent), Pandion Energy AS (12.5 per cent) and Wintershall Dea Norge AS (6.5 per cent).

The area in this licence consists of parts of blocks 25/7 and 25/8. The well will be drilled about 12 kilometres north of the Balder field.

Production licence 820 S was awarded on 5 February 2016 (APA2015). This is the fourth exploration well to be drilled in the licence.

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