The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway has granted Statoil ASA consent for exploration drilling with the mobile drilling installationWest Navigator on Alve.

Smedvig Offshore AS operatesWest Navigator (formerly West Navion). The drilling installation was the first to receive the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's Acknowledgement of Compliance.

The installation was recently used to drill three wells off the coast of Mauritania in West Africa and is now completing a five-year classification at a shipyard in Spain.

The consent covers drilling of the wildcat well 6507/3-4, production license 159. The well is an appraisal well on the Alve structure to prove hydrocarbons in the Fangst & Båt groups as well as identify fluid systems and contacts.

Planned start-up of the activities is March 15, with an estimated duration of 50 days.

(03/04/04)