Norway's combined oil and gas production exceeded an official forecast by 2.9 per cent in May, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on Tuesday.
Norway is Europe's largest supplier of natural gas and a major producer of oil. Output varies from month to month depending on maintenance needs and other stoppages at close to 100 offshore fields.
Overall oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and gas output stood at 0.607 million standard cubic metres per day, equivalent to 3.82 million barrels of oil equivalent, a decrease of 0.8 per cent year-on-year.
Natural gas production in May increased to 303 million cubic metres (mcm) per day from 298.9 mcm a year earlier, but lagged a forecast of 303.9 mcm by 0.3 per cent, the regulator said on its website.
Crude oil output fell to 1.722 million barrels per day (bpd) in May from 1.790 million bpd in the same month last year, and came in 7.2 per cent above a forecast of 1.607 million bpd, NOD's preliminary data showed.
(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen and Jagoda Darlak, editing by Anna Ringstrom)