The Norwegian government has approved Statoil's development plan for the Rutil gas discovery in the Gullfaks Rimfaksdalen prospect of the North Sea, the oil ministry said on Friday.

Located near the major Gullfaks oil and gas field, Rutil will be tied in with its estimated reserves of 11.1 billion standard cubic meters of gas and 0.8 million standard cubic meters of condensate.

The development is expected to cost 4.6 billion Norwegian crowns ($567.03 million).

Operator Statoil holds a 51 percent stake in the license while Petoro holds 30 percent and OMV 19 percent. ($1 = 8.1125 Norwegian crowns)