The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has given Wintershall its approval to drill an exploratory well with the Borgland Dolphin drilling rig offshore Florø, Norway.

Wintershall is the operator for production licence 248 in the North Sea where the well will be drilled.

The exploration prospect is named Orion and bears the designation 35/11-19S. It is located around 98 km west-south-west of Florø with water depths reaching 379 metres.

According to PSA, the drilling will start in mid-May at the earliest, and is estimated to last between 47 and 134 days. The duration will depend on whether a discovery is made, which in turn will entail drilling sidetrack wells, the safety authority added.

As for the drilling rig that is to be used, the Borgland Dolphin is an Aker H-3 type semi-submersible mobile drilling rig. The facility is owned by Fred. Olsen Energy ASA and operated by Dolphin Drilling AS. It was built as a flotel in 1977 and refitted/upgraded into a drilling facility in 1999.

The rig received PSA’s Acknowledgement of Compliance (AOC) in September 2004.