Norway's February oil, gas output beats forecast

Norway's combined oil and gas production exceeded an official forecast by 1.8 per cent in February, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on Thursday.

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 0.663 million standard cubic metres per day, equivalent to 4.17 million barrels of oil equivalent, a decrease of 2.4 per cent year-on-year.

Natural gas production in February fell to 355.1 million cubic metres (mcm) per day from 360.4 mcm a year earlier, but exceeded a forecast of 342 mcm by 3.8 per cent, the regulator said on its website.

Crude oil output fell to 1.723 million barrels per day (bpd) in February from 1.765 million bpd in the same month last year, but came in above a forecast of 1.701 million bpd, NOD's preliminary data showed.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Nora Buli)