The company, which is the well-operator, holds a 100% interest in permit PEDL030.
Willows-1, located 55km east of York and 15km south of Scarborough, is expected to take 30 days to reach a total depth of 2550m.
The primary target is the Permian Rotliegendes sandstone, which has potential to contain 50-100 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves, the company said.
Yesterday morning, the well was drilling ahead in a 14¾-inch hole at a depth of 170m.