London - Energy group Royal Dutch Shell has discovered a large natural gas reserve in Norway that may equal the country's annual existing output, a spokesman for the group confirmed on Tuesday.

According to early estimates, the new gas field could provide up to 100 billion cubic meters of gas - Norway's annual output of the resource.

The discovery was made during prospecting in the Norwegian Sea at Gro, some 400 kilometres off the coast of Norway. Engineers working on the joint project between Shell, Norway's StatoilHydro and French energy group GDF drilled at a depth of 1,376 metres, a record in the Norwegian Sea.

The new natural gas source would make Norway the third largest exporter of the fuel worldwide. Previously, the Scandinavian country stood fifth, behind Canada and Iran.

Norwegians use neither gas nor oil for their own needs. Energy is derived mainly from hydroelectric plants. (dpa)