Statoil makes discovery in Gimle field

STAVANGER, Norway, May 9 (UPI) -- The Norwegian government said Friday it confirmed energy company Statoil made a discovery while drilling into the northern part of the North Sea.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Statoil made a discovery while drilling into the eastern section of the Gimle field in the North Sea. The preliminary size of the discovery was estimated at between 7 million cubic feet and 35 million cubic feet of recoverable oil equivalents.

The entire Gimle oil field was discovered in 2004 and entered into production in 2006.

NPD estimates the field holds about 18 million barrels of recoverable oil and 49 billion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.

As of December, the NPD estimates there are 1.8 million barrels of recoverable oil and 24 billion cubic feet of gas left in the field.