Statoil frustrated with latest oil find

STAVANGER, Norway, May 2 (UPI) -- Statoil said Friday it made an oil and natural gas discovery in the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea, but was largely disappointed with the results.

Statoil said it made the discovery while drilling into its Drivis prospect in the Barents Sea field. The company estimated the discovery holds between 44 million barrels and 63 million barrels of recoverable oil, of which as much as 54 million barrels may be oil.

Irene Rummelhoff, a vice president in charge of exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf, said the company was pleased with the latest discovery, but otherwise disappointed with the exploration program thus far.

"Out of the five wells drilled, only two have resulted in oil discoveries," she said in a statement.

Drivis was the last of the campaigns targeting the Johan Castberg area for Statoil and its exploration partners.

Its first first project, Nunatak, was described as a "small" discovery for Statoil and not commercially viable.