Norway's Equinor has been given consent from Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to perform exploration drilling of well 36/1-3 on production licence 885, which aims to investigate the Presto Prospect in the North Sea.
Drilling is scheduled to begin in December 2018 and last 35 days, or 52 days if a discovery is made.
Water depth at the site is 230 meters. The well is to be drilled by Transocean Spitsbergen, which is a semi-submersible drilling facility of the Aker H-6e type, owned and operated by Transocean Offshore Ltd. The facility was built at the Aker Stord yard in 2009, is registered in the Marshall Islands and classified by DNV GL.
Transocean Spitsbergen received a new Acknowledgement of Compliance from the PSA in November 2012 following a change of ownership.