Statoil assessing offshore oil discovery 500 km northeast of St. John’s, N.L.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Statoil says it is evaluating a new discovery of high-quality oil off the coast of Newfoundland, about 500 kilometres northeast of St. John’s, N.L.

The Norwegian oil giant says it will do more exploratory drilling to determine the potential of the discovery, which is under abut 1,100 metres of water.

The Harpoon discovery is about 10 km from the Mizzen discovery, which is estimated to hold between 100 million and 200 million barrels of oil.

Statoil has a 65 per cent interest in the Harpoon discovery and the remaining 35 per cent is owned by Calgary-based Husky Energy (TSX:HSE).

Both companies have been long-time players in the province’s off-shore oil and gas industry.

Statoil spokesman Erik Finnstrom says the latest oil discovery is very encouraging and contributes to its understanding of the area.