PARIS, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A natural gas discovery off the northern coast of the United Kingdom is "meaningful," said executives with French supermajor Total.
Total announced that it discovered natural gas after drilling more than 11,000 feet below the surface of the sea near the Shetland Islands at its Edradour well.
Patrice de Vivies, a senior vice president for North European production at the French energy giant, said it was too early to make any firm estimates but early tests were promising.
"While definitive testing is still to be completed, Edradour already is another meaningful discovery for us in the West of Shetland region," he said in a statement.
The well was drilled in nearly 1,000 feet of water. Evaluations and appraisals are ongoing, the French company said.
The United Kingdom is embracing renewable energy resources like wind as natural gas reserves in regional waters start to decline.
