The well was drilled south of the Snoehvit gas field off the coast of northern Norway.

"The well is dry," the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in a statement.

The partners in the license are Statoil (33.5 percent), Norwegian state-owned firm Petoro (30 percent), Total (18.4 percent), GDF Suez (12 percent), Hess (3.3 percent) and RWE Dea (2.8 percent).