The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Wellesley Petroleum a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the Norwegian Sea.
The well 6204/11-3 will be drilled from the Borgland Dolphin drilling rig.
Wellesley has already received safety consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to drill the well using the Borgland Dolphin.
The rig is currently at the shipyard in Kvinesdal, Norway.
The drilling programme for well 6204/11-3 relates to the drilling of wildcat wells in production licence 829.
Wellesley Petroleum is the operator with an ownership interest of 60 per cent and other licensees are Equinor (20 per cent) and Petoro (20 per cent).
The area in this licence consists of parts of blocks 6204/7, 8, 10 and 11.
The well will be drilled about 65 kilometres north-northeast of the Peon discovery and about 100 km southwest of Ålesund.
The well is located on a prospect called Schweinsteiger in block 6204/11.
Production licence 829 was awarded on 5 February 2016 (APA2015) and this is the first exploration well to be drilled in the licence.