Island Innovator to drill Fogelberg appraisal well

The ‘Island Innovator' drilling rig is scheduled to start operations at Fogelberg in the Norwegian Sea in February/March 2018. 

Dag Omre, Asset Director at Centrica Norway, said: “Island Innovator is a modern rig built in 2012 and very suitable for drilling the appraisal well at Fogelberg. Now our focus is on thorough planning and execution to make sure we operate safely, safeguard the environment and deliver on cost and schedule."

The main purpose of the appraisal well is to reduce volume uncertainty and get a better understanding of the reservoir quality at the Fogelberg gas discovery.

First discovery

Fogelberg is located in the Haltenbanken area in the Norwegian Sea. It was discovered in 2010 following Centrica's first operated exploration well on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The discovery is estimated to hold approximately 60 million barrels of oil equivalent and the current development concept is a subsea tie-in to the Statoil-operated Åsgard B platform. From there the processed gas will go to Kårstø via the Åsgard transport pipeline. There will be available capacity in this pipeline from 2021, and if the project is sanctioned the current plan is for production to start at Fogelberg the same year.

The rig agreement with Island Drilling also contains an option for two additional wells. The semi-submersible ‘Island Innovator’ is operated by Odfjell Drilling.

Centrica Norway is operator for the Fogelberg licence with an ownership interest of 50 percent. Partners are Faroe Petroleum and DEA Norge, both with a 25 percent interest.