Norway’s state-owned energy giant Equinor has secured a drilling permit for two exploration wells in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, which will be drilled with a semi-submersible rig owned by COSL Drilling Europe, an offshore drilling player.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Equinor a drilling permit for the wellbores 34/8-20 S and 34/8-20 A in production license 554 E, which was awarded on February 17, 2023, and is valid until the same date in 2030.

Equinor is the operator of the license with a 40% stake, while its partners, Vår Energi and Aker BP, hold a 30% interest each. The drilling of the wildcat wells, which is slated to begin in August 2025, will be undertaken with the COSL Innovator drilling rig.

The Norwegian state-owned oil and gas giant selected the rig in August 2023 for a two-year contract, starting in the second quarter of 2025. This deal comes with extension options for three additional years. The 2012-built COSL Innovator semi-submersible rig is designed to operate in water depths up to 750 meters.

Norway is setting the stage to witness more oil and gas exploration activity, as illustrated by the addition of new blocks in the award in pre-defined areas 2025 (APA 2025) round for oil and gas exploration compared to APA 2024.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞?

𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝟓𝟎% 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬!