Oilexco has confirmed that it has made a "significant" due oil and gas discovery at Moth in the North Sea.

The finding, which is located in Block 23/21 in the north of the sea, was made following a programme of drilling into hydrocarbon-rich reservoir sands with a thickness of around 600 feet.

However, a full assessment of the likely reserves was unable to be completed due to an equipment failure, though initial estimates point to significant levels of oil and gas-condensate, with Oilexco to put forward a full programme for the further development of the discovery within the coming weeks.

Commenting on the find, Arthur Millholland, president and CEO of Oilexco, noted: "Oilexco remains the most active driller in the UK North Sea and we continue to achieve significant results from our exploration programme, with Moth being the second major discovery to be made by the company in the last year.

"We believe that the Moth field has the potential to be very material to Oilexco, and look forward to the test results from the primary zone."

The company currently has a 50 per cent working interest at Moth, with the remainder split between its partners, namely BG Group, BP and Shell.