IOG who are based in London said the well on the Skipper Discovery found the oil it contained was thinner than expected raising hopes that the extraction costs will be much less than previously anticipated.

The results will be studied and analysed within the industry in the hope that there could be massive amounts of oil and gas to be extracted from the seabed beneath Shetland.

IOGs drilling operations were previously halted as the drillship was battered by force 10 gales.

The company believes the Skipper well may contain 34 million barrels of recoverable oil.

Heavier oil increases extraction costs making lighter oil like that found yesterday much more profitable.

An expert report into the field published in September last year highlighted the importance of clarifying the viscosity of the oil in the Skipper well as this will determine how quickly it will flow to the surface.

The lighter oil allows fewer wells to be drilled to bring the Skipper onstream obviously lowering costs and bring forward the date of first extraction.

With further drilling operations being conducted on two prospects below Skipper, IOG hopes to make further oil discoveries which could form part of a larger development.

Chief executive Mark Routh said: “The initial data acquired from the Skipper well, our first operated well, is an excellent result.”

He added: “We now move on to drill the exploration prospects, where any further oil discoveries would provide additional upside and look forward to analysing the results in order to progress the Skipper field development plan as soon as possible.”