TONAS is the operator for production licence 776 in the North Sea. The well will be drilled in a prospect named Rome, with the designation 16/5-6. It is located around 37 km southeast of the Edvard Grieg field, at the geographical coordinates:
Drilling is scheduled to begin in June at the earliest and estimated to last 30 days, depending on whether a discovery is made.
Drilling will be performed using Borgland Dolphin, which is a semi-submersible mobile drilling facility of the Aker H-3 type. 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.
Borgland Dolphin received Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA in September 2004.
The PSA has now granted TONAS consent for exploration drilling.
Adapted from a press release by Louise Mulhall