Statoil finds more oil off Norway in new formation

* Finds up to 100 mln barrels

* To tie find into Njord facility

OSLO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Statoil (Xetra: DNQA.DE - news) found more oil in the Norwegian Sea, extending its record as the most successful offshore explorer this year and tapping into a previously undiscovered geological formation, it said on Monday.

Statoil said it found between 55 million and 100 million barrels of oil equivalent in the Grey Beds formation of the Norwegian Sea, close to existing production facilities, making future production relatively easy and cheap.

"This is probably the first time hydrocarbons have been proven in Grey Beds formation in this part of the Norwegian Sea," Statoil said.

The latest well results also provide new important information about the Halten Bank area in shallow water in the Norwegian Sea and indicate that there may be interesting follow-up potential in this area, the firm added.

With the new discovery Statoil has found over 900 million barrels of oil equivalent this year, with big finds in Tanzania, Canada and Norway. The firm has been on a roll for the past three years, making discoveries around the globe after revamping its exploration strategy and investing heavily.

Statoil said it would likely develop the new discovery via the Hyme production system to the Njord platform or as a direct tie-in to the Njord platform.

Statoil has a 35-percent stake in the find. Other partners in the discovery include France's GDF Suez (TLO: GAZ-U.TI - news) with 20 percent, Germany's E.ON with 17.5 percent, Norway's Core Energy with 17.5 percent, London-listed Faroe Petroleum (LSE: FPM.L - news) with 7.5 percent and Germany's VNG with 2.5 percent.