Pertra to Use Maersk Giant for Production Drilling on Varg

Pertra AS has secured consent for exploration drilling on the Varg field using the Maersk Giant. The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has also granted its consent for use of the same rig for production drilling on the field (production license 038).

Maersk Giant is owned and operated by the A.P. Moller-Marsk Group. The rig was built in Japan by Hitachi, and was commissioned in 1986. It can operate in water depths of up to 107 meters and can accommodate 87 persons. The rig received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) in February 2002.

Varg is located in the southern part of the North Sea, to the south of Sleipner. The field was discovered in 1984 and the licensees are Pertra AS (operator) and Petoro AS.

The field is developed with an unmanned fixed wellhead installation combined with a floating installation (production ship) with integrated oil storage.

Pertra's application for consent covers drilling of exploration wells 15/12-16, 15/12-17 and 15/12-18, as well as production wells 15/12-A-3, 15/12-A-7, 15/12-8A and 15/12-A-16. However, the licensees have not yet decided whether all of these wells will be drilled.