Norwegian oil and gas output outperforms forecast in January

Norway's combined oil and gas production exceeded an official forecast by 5.6 per cent in January, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on Friday.

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 close to 100 offshore fields.

Overall oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and gas output stood at 0.717 million standard cubic metres per day, equivalent to 4.51 million barrels of oil equivalent, an increase of 8.3 per cent year-on-year.