BP to use mobile drilling facility Polar Pioneer on Skarv Field

BP Norge AS (BP) has received consent to use the mobile drilling facility Polar Pioneer on the Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea.

The consent relates to drilling of production wells on the Skarv field in the period April 2011 to May 2013.

Skarv is located approximately 35 kilometres southwest of the Norne field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea. The development is a unitisation of the 6507/5-1 Skarv and 6507/3-3 Idun deposits.

BP has previously received consent to use the mobile facility Borgland Dolphin for drilling a total of 17 production wells on the deposits in the Skarv development. Polar Pioneer is taking over the work at Skarv following Borgland Dolphin.

Skarv will be developed with a floating production facility (FPSO), with subsea templates on the seabed. The field is expected to start producing in 2011.

The licensees are BP (operator with an ownership interest of 23.84 per cent), E.ON Ruhrgas Norge AS (28.08 per cent), PGNiG Norway AS (11.92 per cent) and Statoil Petroleum AS (36.16 per cent).
Polar Pioneer (above) is operated by Transocean Offshore and is a semi-submersible drilling facility built at Hitachi Zosen, Ariake, Japan.

The facility received the PSA’s Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) in May 2004.