Dana Petroleum’s new North Sea discovery could be worth more than £1billion.
State-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) – which bought Dana in 2010 – said yesterday that the Liberator find off the Moray coast could contain up to 15million barrels of crude oil.
The company will now firm up plans to produce oil together with nearby Blake Field.
“Preliminary work suggests the recoverable resources for Liberator are estimated to be in the region of 10 to 15 million barrels of oil,” a spokesman said yesterday.
Based on current prices, the site could be worth over £1billion.
Dana, fully owned by KNOC, produces 50,000 barrels of oil per day, of which about 66% is produced in the North Sea.
The oil discovery at the Liberator well follows Dana’s gas finds in the Tolmount field in August and Pharos field in November.
And last week the firm was awarded two new licences in the North Sea, one close to the Tolmount.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change approved three blocks in two licences in the 27th Licensing Round. Dana has been awarded 42/28e, 42/29b and 48/10c all with E.on as operator.
UK Managing Director Paul Griffin said yesterday: “These new additions to our portfolio offer us further opportunities for exploration.
“We hope to build on our recent exploration success in the UK North Sea where we have made two discoveries this year and five in the last three years.”
Last week, KNOC’s chief executive, Suh Moon-kyu, said the company would invest in exploration, in line with South Korea’s move to focus on exploration as it scales down spending on overseas energy and resources development.
KNOC said in October it aimed to raise £1.78billion by 2017 from local investors, including the National Pension Service, to help fund its future overseas acquisitions.
The statement added that KNOC would continueto invest in exploration projects for Dana’s growth.
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