2008-03-07 18:51:43 -

OSLO, Norway (AP) - StatoilHydro ASA has struck oil and natural gas with a wildcat exploration well drilled in the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea off Norway's northern tip, the national Petroleum Directorate said Friday.
A statement said it was too early to estimate the size of the find, 175 kilometers (108 miles) northwest of

the northern town of Hammerfest, but that the hydrocarbons found included oil and gas. The directorate said another exploration well is planned for the area, called the Obesum prospect, this year.
«The finds (of both oil and gas) confirm our expectations that additional reserves can be found in this area,» said Tim Dodson, Statoil's head of exploration for the Norwegian continental shelf.
The find is northwest of StatoilHydro's Snoehvit natural gas field, which started production in September as the first offshore field to start up in the Barents Sea, which Norway shares with Russia.
Norway, a major oil and natural gas exporter, has been pushing the search for new petroleum supplies into the Arctic, hoping for new finds to offset slowly dwindling crude production from fields in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea to the south.
State-controlled StatoilHydro, based in the western Norwegian city of Stavanger, is the sole owner of the exploration and production license for the Obesum block.

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