More oil found in the Barents Sea

July 3 (UPI) -- Norwegian oil company Statoil said Monday it was anticipating more potential near its promising Johan Castberg field after finding oil in a frontier area.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the nation's energy regulator, confirmed the presence of oil in a well drilled about 14 miles southwest of the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea. The discovery was made in a wildcat well, one drilled in an area not previously known to hold hydrocarbons.

"We are particularly pleased to have proven resources in a type of play that has not been explored before," Jez Averty, senior vice president for regional exploration, said in a statement. "This opens interesting opportunities."

The NPD put the preliminary size of the discovery, dubbed Kayak, at between 25 million and 50 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents. The Kayak discovery was confirmed about four months after Statoil was cleared to start drilling. It's the eight exploration well drilled in a license area auctioned off to explorers in 2009.

At least three new developments are planned for the Barents Sea, with the Johan Castberg highlighted as one of the more significant. The field has estimated proven reserves of between 400 million and 600 million barrels of oil, and the NPD said the upward revision for the Barents Sea is roughly equivalent to 14 Johan Castberg fields.

"Tie-in of the discovery to the Johan Castberg discovery will be assessed," the NPD stated. "Further delineation of the discovery is currently being considered to clarify the total volume potential."

Apart from Russia, Norway is the lead oil and natural gas exporter to the European market, designating nearly all of its offshore production for European Union demand.