Norway's Statoil said today that two previous North Sea oil discoveries are connected and together may represent the biggest find in the Norwegian continental shelf in 30 years.

The company said the Aldous and Avaldsnes oil discoveries contain more oil than previously thought - between 500 million and 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent together.

Statoil's vice president for exploration, Tim Dodson, called the combined oil discovery "giant" and said Norway last saw such a large find in the 1980s.

He said the discoveries show that the Norwegian continental shelf remains an attractive source for crude.

Statoil owns a 40% stake in both the Aldous and Avaldsnes discoveries.

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