Statoil Gains Korpfjell Permit
Monday 31 July 2017
Statoil has secured a permit from the authorities to drill a high-profile wildcat at the Korpfjell prospect in the Barents Sea off Norway later this summer.
The state-controlled operator will sink the 7435/12-1 well using semi-submersible Songa Enabler in its operated production licence 859, awarded last year under the 23rd licensing round, located in the northern part of the south-east Barents near the Russian maritime border.
The controversial well, which was due to be drilled on 31 July at the earliest, will be spudded once the rig has completed drilling of an ongoing probe at the Gemini Nord prospect in the frontier Hoop play that kicked off earlier this month - the third in Statoil’s current five-well campaign in the Arctic region.
Korpfjell, which is estimated by research firm Rystad Energy to have billion-barrel oil resource potential, will be the northernmost well ever drilled off Norway and has triggered opposition from greens due to its perceived proximity to the Arctic ice boundary.
Greenpeace last week saw the government dismiss its complaint over the well, which it claims would be drilled too close to Arctic ice given the risk of a potential oil spill and contravenes constitutional law that pledges to safeguard the environment for future generations.
The environmental pressure group earlier this month launched a protest against the Statoil drilling effort when it mobilised campaigners in five inflatable boats at the site of the current well, where it has deployed its vessel Arctic Sunrise.
Greenpeace Norway leader Truls Gulowsen was quoted as saying by Norwegian state TV channel NRK that “perhaps we will have to halt the drilling [at Korpfjell] ourselves” after the rejection of its complaint by the Climate & Environment Ministry.
The subsequent Koigen Central wildcat to be drilled south of the Bear Island bird and wildlife sanctuary, with an earliest spud date of 24 August, is also deemed by Greenpeace to be too close to the Arctic ice boundary.
Gulowsen stated in a release on Monday that, based on studies, there is likely to be a large concentration of seabird life in the vicinity of both the Korpfjell and Koigen wells, with an estimated 100 birds per square kilometre.
At the same time, though, he said environmental regulations in relation to seabird monitoring had been reduced compared with previous Barents wells, with supply boat personnel - rather than experts - to monitor bird activity and observations to be reported after drilling has taken place, rather than in real time as previously.
The Korpfjell well has an estimated duration of 24 days while drilling at Koigen is expected to take 25 days.