EDINBURGH-based Cairn Energy has made what has been described as a minor find in the Norwegian North Sea with partners.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate announced that the partners in the PL 682 licence had made a find which initial estimates suggested contained up to 1 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil.

“Preliminary assessments indicate that the discovery is not currently profitable,” said the directorate.

Led by chief executive Simon Thomson, Cairn has a 30 per cent stake in the PL 682 licence. The licence is operated by Spirit Energy.

Cairn noted the announcement without commenting further.

The partners drilled two wells to test the Tethys prospect. One was plugged and abandoned due to technical problems.