ExxonMobil gets Balder Subsea Start-up Nod
Monday 11 July 2016
ExxonMobil has been given the go-ahead by Norwegian authorities to start up a subsea facility on the Balder field in the central North Sea.
The US supermajor has permission for the start-up of the facility at the 25/11-E-29 AH production well at the field on Block 25/11 in production licence 001, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Monday.
Just last week Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) granted ExxonMobil approval to drill the subsea well, to be situated about 3500 metres from the Balder floating production, storage and offloading unit.
Balder, discovered in 1967, was the first oil discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf.
However, it was initially deemed not commercially viable, before eventually being put on production in 1999.
In 2013 the PSA granted ExxonMobil permission for six more subsea wells on the field.