Faroe Petroleum has farmed in to the Agar Plantain exploration well in the North Sea.
The well, operated by Azinor Catalyst, is estimated to hold as much as 98million barrels of oil equivalent.
Faroe has acquired a 25% stake in the well, which Faroe said will be funded through existing cash resources.
Azinor holds 25% and the remaining 50% is owned by Cairn Energy,
Drilling on Agar Plantain,which lies close to the UK/Norwegian median line, is scheduled to begin this month using the Transocean Leader semi submersible rig at a cost of £11.7million.
As part of the same deal, Faroe is also taking a 12.5% stake in the wider P1763 license.
Apache currently holds 50% as operator Cairn has 25% and Catalyst has 12.5%.
Chief executive Graham Stewart said: “We are pleased to announce the Agar Plantain farm-in, targeting two oil prospects, adding a seventh well to our ongoing committed exploration and appraisal programme and further increasing the near term upside potential in our growing asset base.
“We look forward to working with Catalyst, as operator, to unlock the potential of the Agar Plantain prospect.
“Faroe’s UK exploration strategy is to pursue on a highly selective basis suitable opportunities, located close to existing infrastructure offering potential for early exploitation through subsea tie-back.
“The Agar Plantain well represents a good opportunity to leverage our extensive Norwegian exploration expertise and track record onto the UKCS, and in a cost-effective manner, taking advantage of continuing low rig rates.
“This farm-in follows on from our award of UKCS Block 30/14b in the UK 30th Licencing Round announced in May, containing the high impact prospect Edinburgh (Faroe 100%) which straddles the UK/Norwegian median line.”