Norway's Statoilhydro has announced that it has made a gas discovery at the Galtvort prospect in the Norwegian Sea.

Situated 30 kilometres north-east of the Njord field and nine kilometres north-west of the Draugen field, the new discovery will be 30 per cent owned by Statoilhydro, with a number of other domestic and foreign companies also holding an interest.

Gaz de France Norway will hold a 20 per cent stake in the field, with Noreco and E.On Ruhrgas Norge holding 17.5 per cent each, while the state-owned Petoro has agreed a 7.5 per cent share.

A statement released by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate read: "The total size of the discovery is estimated at 1-3 billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas.

"The licensees will now evaluate the size of the discovery for further clarification prior to considering potential development solutions."

Concedo and Endeavor Energy are also partners in the licence, holding stakes of five per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively.

At the same time, StatoilHydro reported that it was forced to temporarily close production at one of its North Sea offshore platforms following a fire.