Adds share price, quote from board chair, background in paragraphs 3-12
OSLO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil company DNO DNO.OL said on Tuesday it had discovered gas condensate at its Norma prospect in the North Sea and that it would continue to drill for more resources nearby.
Preliminary evaluation of the discovery indicates gross recoverable resources of between 25 million and 130 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), with a best-guess estimate of 70 million boe, DNO said in a statement.
DNO's Oslo-listed shares were trading up 3.8% by 0946 GMT.
Norma is situated in an area with extensive infrastructure in the central part of the North Sea, which provides a few options to develop the discovery, DNO said.
The DNO has also identified additional exploration prospects within the same license, the company added.
It holds a 30% stake in the license, while Equinor EQNR.OL, Vaar Energi VAR.OL and Source Energi have 20% each, and Aker BP AKRBP.OL has 10%.
So far this year, DNO has made four discoveries off Norway, including the Carmen discovery estimated to hold 120 million-230 million barrels of oil equivalent, the largest find since 2013.
"The string of recent discoveries validates DNO's offshore Norway exploration strategy," DNO's Executive Chair Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said.
The company's exploration success in Norway contrasts with the problems it faces in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, its main producing hub.
DNO had to halt its production in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan after Turkey in March shut down an export pipeline following Baghdad's win in an arbitration case at the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The company said in August it had partly resumed output from one of its fields, selling oil to local buyers at a discount.
Given uncertain timing for pipeline export resumption, DNO had cut its investments and staff in Kurdistan, it said the second quarter report last month.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Terje Solsvik)
((terje.solsvik@thomsonreuters.com; +47 918 666 70))
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