StatoilHydro has discovered oil by the southern tip of the giant North Sea field Snorre, where a wildcat well and an appraisal appear to point to 25 million barrels of oil.

A 280-metre oil column of good reservoir was found in rock of the Lower Jurassic era, and now partners in wildcat and appraisal wells 34/7-34 and 34/7-34 A are thinking commercial development anchored on the Vigdis field.

Weeks ago, with oil at $35, a StatoilHydro manager said a 15-million-barrel field was not deemed commercial by company planners. The new field has 25 MMbbls.

“The discovery again confirms that there is still a great potential in this part of the North Sea," StatoilHydro’s Tom Dreyer said. He’s VP “infrastructure-led exploration”.

The wells are located 3 km south of the Snorre field and both proved oil at between 2670 metres and 2712 m.

Production license PL 089 was awarded way back in 1984. Operator StatoilHydro (41.5 percent) is joined in the permit by Norwegian taxpayer entity Petoro (30 percent), ExxonMobil (10.5 percent), Japan’s Idemitsu Petroleum (9.6 percent), Total of France (5.6 percent) and RWE Dea (2.8 percent).

Tags: StatoilHydro