Norwegian oil company StatoilHydro and partner Total have made an oil discovery some 140 kilometres off the western Norwegian town of Bergen, where up to 16 million barrels of oil are estimated in place.

The oil company said the Curran prospect “is not quite commercial” at today’s oil prices.

“But that could change in the time to come,” Tom Dreyer, company vice president for North Sea exploration, was quoted as saying.

He said the target was a geologic trap below one of the big north-south-running faults in the Oseberg area.

“No wells have ever before been drilled in this type of trap in the same area,” the statement read.

The Transocean Winner semi-submersible drill rig drilled well 30/8-4 S just seven kilometres south of producing field Tune near the large Oseberg platform. A formation test has StatoilHydro (50 percent), Total (10 percent) and state entity Petoro (40 percent) considering development via the nearby infrastructure for the find. Water depth in the are is just 94 metres, or “shallow” by industry standards.

The well in Licence 190 was drilled to a vertical depth of 4,155 m below the waves, ending in rock of the mid-Jurassic age.

Tags: StatoilHydro, Total