Norway's Statoil upgrades North Sea oil find

Aug 16, 2011, 8:34 GMT

Oslo - Norwegian energy firm Statoil Tuesday said it believed a North Sea oil find announced last week was larger than initially estimated, and could possibly rate among the top 10 discoveries on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Test results suggested there was a link between the well in the Aldous Major South prospect and the neighbouring Avaldsnes discovery, Statoil said.

The discoveries could contain between 500 and 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), the group said, citing preliminary data.

'Aldous/Avaldsnes is a giant oil discovery, and according to our estimates the combined discovery may make the top-10 list of NCS (Norwegian continental shelf) oil discoveries,' Tim Dodson, Statoil's executive vice president for exploration said.

'Norway has not seen a similar oil discovery since the mid-eighties,' he added.

Statoil has a 40 per cent interest in the Aldous Major South find. located west of Stavanger. Other partners are Petoro with a 30 per cent stake, Det norske oljeselskap with 20 per cent, and Lundin Petroleum with 10 per cent.

Lundin Petroleum is operator of the Avaldsnes find and has a 40 per cent interest, while Statoil and Maersk have 40 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.