18 November 2013, News Wires – Norway’s oil and gas output missed forecasts in October due to outages at a large number of fields, while gas production from the Oseberg field has been cut as a result of a technical issue.
Oil production of 1.4 million barrels per day in October was up from 1.31 million bpd the previous month but still 9% short of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s (NPD) target for the month and 5% lower than a year earlier.
Similarly, gas sales of 9.4 billion cubic metres for the month were up from 7.8 Bcm in September but still 9% below the target.
Thirteen fields – including Balder, Draugen and Heidrun – suffered reduced output due to planned maintenance and repair work, while the Njord field has been offline since July and is unlikely to restart until next summer due to reinforcement work to the platform structure.
For the first 10 months of the year, oil production is about 6% less than for the same period of 2012 but still in line with the NPD’s target level.
The country’s output is expected to hit a 25-year low this year as its North Sea fields become more mature and greenfield projects have yet to be brought online.
Production from the Oseberg gas field will be reduced by between 21 million and 25 million cubic metres for two to three days this weekend due to a compressor failure, gas infrastructure agency Gassco said.
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