STAVANGER,
Norway, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Total
production of crude oil, natural gas and other similar products increased about
37,000 barrels per day from October, the Norwegian government said.
Norway is among the leading
oil and natural gas suppliers to the European economy apart from Russia. The
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported preliminary data for November show an
average production of 2.15 million barrels of oil, natural gas liquid and an
ultra-light product called condensate, which is about 2% higher than figures from October.
Average daily production of
oil from Norway was 1.74 million barrels, about 9 percent higher than the NPD
reported last year and 11 percent higher than expected.
"The oil production is
about 5 percent above the prognosis so far this year," the NPD said
Norwegian energy company
Statoil, which is part owned by the government, reported this week that its Troll field
in the North Sea reached its 1 billionth barrel. The company said Troll
production has been relatively flat over the past few years, but another eight
to 10 years of production is left in the field.
In October, the NPD said
Statoil uncovered oil near an existing field in the southern waters of the
Norwegian Sea while drilling a wildcat well, a well tapping into an area not
previously known to contain hydrocarbons.
The Norwegian energy major
recently submitted a plan for development to Petroleum Minister Tord
Lien for the Trestakk discovery, which holds about 76 million barrels of
recoverable oil equivalent, and most of that exists as oil.
The figures add to a
lingering market scenario of oversupply. Members of the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to a production ceiling of around 32.5
million bpd in an effort to pull the market back into balance. That level would
amount to a cut in OPEC production and the arrangement hinges on non-member
states to be effective.
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