Wellesley Petroleum AS (“Wellesley”) has been offered interests in three new production licences on the NCS, one of which is operated, through the Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA 2021) licensing round.
All three production licences are located in the North Sea. Operated licence PL1148 (Wellesley 50%) is located 8 km west of the recent Toppand Discovery (Wells 35/7-10 S & 35/7-10 A) and will be awarded with a firm well commitment targeting the Carmen Prospect, which shares key geological similarities with Toppand. Additional prospectivity has been captured adjacent to the Røver Nord Discovery (PL923B, Wellesley 20%) and the Atlantis Discovery (PL878C, Wellesley 40%).
Chris Elliott, CEO of Wellesley commented: “This award strengthens our position in the Troll-Fram area, complementing our existing Grosbeak, Røver Nord, Swisher and Toppand commercial discoveries. We are particularly excited to operate a firm well on the Carmen Prospect, as geological information from the successful Toppand well has significantly de-risked this target. Additionally, we have added attractive prospects adjacent to both the Røver Nord and Atlantis discoveries. We will now mature and rank the Troll-Fram area opportunities along with existing prospect portfolio to expand our exploration drilling sequence further. As a result of exploration success in this area, planning for a significant combined development of the various discoveries is now underway, made more attractive by electrification projects on the Troll facilities. Tie-back to powered-from-shore platforms means the future development will combine materiality with very low CO2 emissions, and Wellesley’s position in the area gives the company an important role both in moving the development project forward and in adding more volumes through continued exploration drilling.”
