By Bate Felix and Shadia Nasralla
PARIS (Reuters) - Total and partners including China's CNOOC have made a significant new gas discovery off the coast of Britain at the North Sea Glengorm prospect, with recoverable resources estimated at around 250 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Total said further drilling and testing would be carried out to appraise the resources and productivity of the reservoir.
"Glengorm is another great success for Total in the North Sea, with results at the top end of expectations and a high condensate yield in addition to the gas," said Kevin McLachlan, Total's Senior Vice President for Exploration, in a statement.
The discovery is close to existing infrastructures operated by Total and offers tie-back possibilities, such as the Elgin-Franklin platform and the Culzean project, scheduled to start production this year, the company said.
It also presents upside potential with several other prospects identified on the same block, it added.
Britain's Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) welcomed the discovery as it underlined the area's potential.
"Our official estimate is that there still remains between 10 and 20 billion barrels plus to be recovered, so there is every chance of yet more significant finds, provided industry can increase exploration drilling," said Andy Samuel, Chief Executive of the Oil & Gas Authority.
Kevin Swann, senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said that at 250 million boe, Glengorm was the largest gas discovery in the United Kingdom since Culzean in 2008.
"This was third time lucky for CNOOC at Glengorm. Technical problems saw it try and fail to drill the prospect twice in 2017, so persistence has paid off. This is a good start to what could prove to be a pivotal year for UK exploration with several high impact wells in the plan," Swann said.
Total holds a 25 percent working interest in Glengorm.
China's CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds a 50 percent stake and is the operator, while Euroil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Edison E&P SpA, holds 25 percent.