British energy company Encore Oil said today that it had made one of the biggest North Sea oil discoveries in recent years.
The Catcher prospect, off the east coast of Scotland, is thought to hold up to 300 million barrels of oil, although Encore Oil said the outcome of further investigations could add 'very significantly' to this number.
It would make Catcher among the biggest discoveries in the North Sea since the billion barrel-Buzzard reservoir off Aberdeen in 2001.
Encore's chief executive Alan Booth said that the company's Catcher drilling programme had so far delivered a 'truly exceptional result'.
'Initial analysis of the seismic data, now calibrated by drilling, suggests that block 28/9 could possibly contain a series of discoveries that would form one of the larger North Sea oil accumulations of recent years,' he said.
A number of Encore's team were responsible for the discovery of the Buzzard field, which produces more than 10% of Britain's total oil production.
Encore is the lead operator on Catcher and has a 15% stake in the joint venture, alongside majority owner Premier Oil, Wintershall, Nautical Petroleum and Agora Oil & Gas.
