Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA (STO) said Thursday it had discovered
up to 600 million barrels of recoverable oil offshore
Canada
, its
third discovery in a potential new core production area.
The Bay du Nord discovery in the
Flemish
Pass
Basin
was
first announced in August, but the company said a sidetrack well drilled this
week had confirmed that the find was significant. The size was estimated at
between 300 million and 600 million barrels of recoverable oil.
"It is exciting that Statoil is opening a new basin offshore
Newfoundland
,"
said Tim Dodson, Statoil's executive vice president for exploration. "This
brings us one step closer to becoming a producing operator in the area."
The company said the
Flemish
Pass
had
the potential to become a core producing area for Statoil after 2020.
Statoil previously made the Mizzen discovery in the same area, expected to hold
100 million to 200 million barrels of recoverable oil, and the Harpoon
discovery, which is still under evaluation.
The Bay du Nord find is situated 500 kilometers northeast of
St.
John's
,
Newfoundland
. The oil was of a light crude
quality, and the reservoir was excellent, with high porosity and high
permeability, Statoil said.
The company has only drilled a few wells in a large license area of about 8,500
square kilometers, and was preparing to do more seismic surveys and drill more
appraisal wells to confirm the estimates.
Statoil is the operator of Mizzen, Harpoon and Bay du Nord with a 65% ownership
stake. Husky
Energy Inc. (HUSKF) has a 35% stake.