Deltic Energy has accepted one of two new licences it had been awarded in the UK's 33rd licencing round.
The new licence is located west of the West Sole gas field, containing the Pharos and Teviot discoveries.
In a statement to the markets this morning, the firm also said it is preparing to farm out its stake in Blackadder.
Graham Swindells, chief executive of Deltic, said: "The Blackadder project has many analogous attributes to the Selene prospect, where the reworking of legacy datasets has unearthed a potential missed pay opportunity of material scale.
"Blackadder’s location, in close proximity to existing infrastructure that requires new third party gas to defer decommissioning, should enhance its value in a mature basin where new licences are likely to become increasingly scarce.
"Over the coming year we will progress our work on the legacy data in preparation for farm out, in anticipation of drilling an appraisal well on Blackadder in due course."
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was down 24-points at 8,179 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were down 0.40%, trading at $86.19 a barrel.
Companies reporting today
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