The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Statoil Petroleum AS a drilling permit for well 16/7-10, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations.

Well 16/7-10 will be drilled by the drilling facility Ocean Vanguard at position 58º 29′ 56.56″ N, 02º 01′ 31.42″ E, following completion of wildcat well 30/11-8 A for Statoil in production license 035.

The drilling program for well 16/7-10 concerns the drilling of a wildcat well in production license 569. Statoil is the operator with a 59.6 percent ownership share. The other licensees are ExxonMobil with 30.4 percent and Total with 10 percent.

The area in the license comprises the southwestern section of block 16/4. The well will be drilled about 10 kilometres northeast of the Volve field in the central section of the North Sea.

Production license 569 was awarded on February 4, 2011 (APA 2010). This is the first well to be drilled in the license area.

The permit is contingent upon the operator having secured all other permits and consents required by other authorities before the drilling starts.