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BP, GDF Suez make North Sea oil find

Discovery critical for region's future, regional president for BP says.

By Daniel J. Graeber

LONDON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- French energy company GDF Suez and British counterpart BP said Thursday they made a significant new oil discovery in the central waters of the North Sea.

"As BP marks its 50th year in the North Sea and as the industry looks to maximize economic recovery from the basin, increasing exploration activity and finding new ways to collaborate will be critical to realizing remaining potential," Trevor Garlick, BP's regional president, said in a statement. "This discovery is a great example of both."

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The discovery, which straddles two license areas operated separately by the companies, tested at an initial flow rate of 5,350 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Garlick said the discovery shows how more oil can come from North Sea basins if regional players join forces to capitalize on what he said was a considerable amount of oil and natural gas reserves left in the area.

The British side of the discovery was named Vorlich, while GDF Suez gave its part of the find the moniker of Marconi.

For GDF Suez, the discovery marks its third so far in British waters.

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"We are determined to have set the right fiscal and regulatory regimes to make sure we can get the maximum possible economic extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea," added British Business and Energy Minister Matthew Hancock.

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