By Jakob Lindstroem

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Questerre Energy Corp., the Canada- based oil explorer, surged the most in six weeks on the Oslo bourse after saying it will participate in a ``major'' pilot program to asses the viability of a gas find in Quebec.

The shares jumped as much as 7.9 kroner, or 42 percent, to 26.7 kroner, the biggest advance since April 10. They were at 26.3 kroner as of 9:57 a.m. local time, having soared 530 percent so far this year.

Questerre plans to asses the commercial potential of ``unconventional'' gas in the St. Lawrence Lowlands with its partner Talisman Energy Canada, the company said in a statement distributed by Market Wire. The project is expected to be carried out this year and next with a budget of more than $100 million, the company said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jakob Lindstroem in Stockholm at jlindstroem@bloomberg.net.