Oilexco'sMoray Firth Basin Project in the North Sea. StatoilHydro says it hasfound petroleum in an established field in the area.

Photograph by: Handout photo, Handout photo

Statoil-HydroASA, the world's largest offshore oil and gas operator, found petroleumin a well southwest of Oseberg in the North Sea.

Wildcat well30/9-22, located in the Katia prospect, may hold 50 million to 80million barrels of oil equivalents in recoverable reserves, Stavanger,Norway-based StatoilHydro said in an e-mailed statement. Wildcat wellsare drilled in zones not known to be productive.

"We've had greatsuccess with exploration close to producing fields over the past year,"Tove Stuhr Sjoeblom, StatoilHydro's head of exploration for theNorwegian continental shelf, said in the statement.

"This isanother discovery which confirms that it's still possible to findrelatively large volumes of oil and gas in established areas such asOseberg."