Norway’s preliminary production for March averaged 1.9 million b/d of oil, natural gas liquids, and condensate, marking a decrease of 46,000 b/d compared with February. Norwegian officials blamed the lower March production on technical problems on some fields.
Average liquids production in March was a rounded 1.52 million b/d of oil, 352,000 b/d of NGL, and 29,000 b/d of condensate, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said.
March oil production was 5% lower than NPD’s forecast. Production for the year is running about 3% below NPD’s forecast so far.
NPD provided few other specifics on the technical problems. Previously, NPD has said Norway’s production is expected to decline until 2020 when Johan Sverdrup oil field is scheduled to come on stream. It is anticipated to produce as much as 660,000 b/d by 2022 (OGJ, Mar. 5, 2018, p. 48).
