Norsk Hydro Discovered Oilfield

Norwegian oil and gas giant Norsk Hydro has discovered a new oil deposit in the Troll field in the North Sea.

"Hydro regards the opportunities for commercial exploitation of the Brent formation oil as encouraging, given that the find is situated close to existing installations on the Troll field," the group said in a statement.

Norsk Hydro declined to comment on the size of the oil deposit.

"Further analyses and delineation drilling must be carried out to obtain secure data regarding the expected volume of additional reserves and recovery rate," Norsk Hydro said.

Oil and gas fields are not always exploitable because of technical or cost reasons.
The company refused to comment on reports in the daily Verdens Gang that the reserves would be twice the size of those of the neighbouring Brage field, which has registered a peak production of 110,000 barrels per day.

The Troll field is operated by Norsk Hydro, which has a 9.78 percent share. Norwegian groups Petoro and Statoil hold 56 and 20.80 percent stakes, while Anglo-Dutch Shell holds 8.10 percent, Total of France holds 3.69 percent and ConocoPhillips of the US 1.62 percent.

The discovery is the fourth oil and gas find on the Norwegian continental shelf in recent months.