Norway Oil, Gas Production Beats Forecast Despite November Decline

Gullfaks field platform (Credit: Øyvind Hagen/Equinor)

Norway's combined oil and gas production declined in November from the same month a year earlier but was still 2.6% higher than an official forecast, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on Friday.

Norway is Europe's largest supplier of natural gas and a major producer of oil, but output varies from month to month depending on maintenance needs and other stoppages at more than 90 offshore fields.

Overall oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and gas output stood at 0.674 million standard cubic metres per day, equivalent to 4.24 million barrels of oil equivalent, a year-on-year fall of 2.3%.

Natural gas production in November fell to 360 million cubic metres (mcm) per day from 365 mcm a year earlier, but exceeded a forecast of 349.5 mcm by 3%, the regulator said on its website.

Crude oil output declined to 1.74 million barrels per day (bpd) in November from 1.81 million bpd in the same month of 2023, but topped the forecast 1.68 million bpd, NOD's preliminary data showed.

(Reuters - Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Nora Buli, Kirsten Donovan)