Exmouth oil find for Woodside

Woodside Petroleum has announced a significant new oil discovery near Exmouth.

The oil and gas producer said drilling at its Laverda North-2 appraisal well discovered a gross interval of 18 metres of new oil-bearing sands.

Woodside said its preliminary evaluation was progressing, but estimated the Greater Laverda area had the potential to contain more than 100 million barrels of oil.

"Additional work is required in order to confirm the ultimate size of the accumulations. Appraisal drilling and analysis, plus further geological and reservoir modelling is expected to be conducted to refine this volume," Woodside said in a statement.

Woodside holds a 60 per cent interest in the WA-36-R exploration permit, where Greater Laverda is situated, while Mutsui Australia holds the remaining 40 per cent.

At 1:47PM (WST) Woodside had gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $45.40.