OSLO: BASF subsidiary Wintershall has found oil about 17 kilometres southwest of the Gjoa field in the North Sea, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Monday.

Preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery range between 10 and 25 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil, it said.

Wintershall holds 45 percent of the license, while Bayerngas has 20 percent, Agora Oil & Gas holds another 20 percent and Edison International 15 percent.