Norway's Okea makes oil find in North Sea

Norway's Okea has discovered oil in the Prince prospect in the North Sea, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said on Wednesday.

Preliminary estimates indicate a discovery of between 0.29 million and 2.79 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent, corresponding to between 1.9 million and 17.5 million barrels of oil equivalent, the directorate said.

It said in a statement the oil was discovered along the eastern flank of the Brage field in the northern part of the North Sea.

"The licensees will now assess the deposit as part of the further development of the Brage field," the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said.

"The field has been in production for a long time, and work is under way to identify new methods to improve recovery. New wells are being drilled, often combined with investigation of nearby prospects."

Okea is the operator and owns 35.2 per cent of the licence while Lime Petroleum holds 33.84 per cent, DNO 14.26 per cent, Petrolia Novo 12.26 per cent and M Vest Energy holds the remaining 4.44 per cent, the directorate says on its website.

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Anna Ringstrom)