A ‘commercially interesting’ gas field has been found in the North Sea about 20 kilometres above the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog, the Telegraaf has reported.

A consortium made up of Hansa Hydrocarbons, Oranje-Nassau Energie and Energiebeheer Nederlands (EBN) carried out the initial test drilling and Hansa’s John Martin told the paper that a ‘substantial volume’ had been found.

He said more wells are being drilled to substantiate the find, a process which could take four to five years. Part of the field is in German waters.

Martin would not go into details but the Financieele Dagblad estimates the size of the field at nearly 60 billion cubic metres. By way of comparison the proven recoverable reserves of the huge Slochteren gas field now estimated at 28 trillion cubic meters was thought to be much smaller originally, the paper said.