Norway's April crude oil output lags forecasts by 10.6% (updated)

Orron Energy AB

20/05/2022 13:59

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    OSLO, May 20 (Reuters) - Norway's crude oil output in April
missed official forecast by 10.6%, while its gas output was in
line with expectations, preliminary data from the Norwegian
Petroleum Directorate (NPD) showed on Friday.
    Crude oil output fell to 1.66 million barrels per day (bpd)
in April from 1.74 million bpd in March, lagging a forecast of
1.86 million bpd, the NPD said.
    Natural gas production in April averaged 327.1 million cubic
metres (mcm) per day, as expected, down from 338.4 mcm/day in
March, while the full month output was down to 9.8 billion cubic
metres (bcm) from 10.5 bcm in March, NPD said.
    The sale of natural gas is now Norway's most profitable
export, exceeding traditionally dominant crude oil revenue, as
Europe scrambles to fill depleted gas storage amid fears the war
in Ukraine will lead to a loss of Russian supplies.
    Some companies, such as Equinor  EQNR.OL  and Aker BP
 AKER.BP , have said that they reduced gas reinjections at some
fields in order to export more gas to
Europe. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS8N2R003J urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2VV1B7 
    Oil companies use gas reinjections to boost pressure in
underground reservoirs to support oil extraction. 

 (Reporting by Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje
Solsvik)
 ((Nora.Buli@thomsonreuters.com; (+47) 21 04 05 56; Reuters
Messaging: nora.buli.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))