Norway's Statoil makes big oil find off Canada coast

Norwegian oil group Statoil said Thursday it had made a big oil find off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada with 300 million to 600 million barrels of recoverable crude. The find, dubbed Bay du Nord, is the third discovery in the area for Statoil Canada and its local partner, Husky Energy, which holds a 35-percent stake to Statoil's 65 percent. Another discovery, called Mizzen, holds an estimated 100 million to 200 million recoverable barrels, while the Harpoon discovery, announced in June, is still being evaluated, Statoil said in a statement. "It is exciting that Statoil is opening a new basin offshore Newfoundland," said Tim Dodson, executive vice president of Statoil, which said Canada's Flemish Pass had the potential to become one of the company's core producing areas after 2020.