UPDATE 1-StatoilHydro drills "disappointing" Arctic well

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OSLO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil and gas group StatoilHydro (STL.OL) has drilled a "disappointing" appraisal well in the Barents Sea, the company and energy officials said on Monday.

The company drilled the well at its Obesum prospect where an exploration well struck oil and gas last year.

"No oil was found in the appraisal well, and thus the size of the oil component is considered minimal," the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in a statement.

"Neither the oil nor the gas discovery in the shallower level is considered commercially interesting," the NPD said of the well drilled 175 kilometres (109 miles) north-northwest of the far northern Norwegian town of Hammerfest.

It said the well proved two smaller gas columns, but that the reservoir quality was medium in the shallower discovery and poor in the deeper one. "The result is disappointing," the directorate said.

Oil companies on the Norwegian continental shelf have turned their gaze northwards to the Arctic in the hope of finding new resources as production at North Sea oilfields is in decline and discoveries off Norway in recent years have been slim.

StatoilHydro confirmed in a separate statement that the gas discovery was "too small and complicated to be deemed commercial."

It said the shallower gas discovery was estimated to be in the range of one to five billion standard cubic metres and it was too early to estimate the size of the deeper gas find.

StatoilHydro holds 100 percent of licence 228.

The well was drilled by the Polar Pioneer rig in 340 metres (1,115 feet) of water, the company said, adding the rig would now move to its production licence 104 to drill another well. (Reporting by Aasa Christine Stoltz and John Acher)