Crude oil production by Norway, the world's eighth largest exporter, is expected to fall 4% in 2013 to 1.47 million b/d, from 1.53 million b/d in 2012, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Friday.
The NPD also said it expected gas production to fall by 7.2% to 106.5 billion cubic meters from 114.8 Bcm last year.
Despite some huge recent discoveries which will kick in in later years, Norway, which is also the second largest gas exporter to Europe after Russia, has been experiencing output declines in crude, in particular, over the last decade as mature fields have progressively depleted. In 2001, Norway produced over 3 million b/d of oil.
The NPD said Friday the 2012 crude production figure fell short of its forecast of around 1.6 million b/d for 2012 and was down on 1.7 million b/d for 2011 and said at a press conference at the Norwegian energy hub of Stavanger output had been hampered by start-up delays.
"Two main reasons explain the discrepancy: delayed production start-up for some fields, as well as some prolonged unplanned shutdowns of producing fields due to repairs and tie-in of new facilities," it said in a statement.
One of the bigger delays was the start up of the BP's Skarv field.
At the start of January, BP said its new but much delayed Skarv oil and gas field in the Norwegian Sea had started production on December 31, which was just in line with its last prediction that the field would come on stream in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The company did not say what Skarv was currently producing, but said it would ramp up output to a 125,000 b/d of oil equivalent within the first six months and 165,000 boe/d by year end.
But the NPD also said that the coming on stream of a series of significant deposits would cause oil and gas output to rebound after falling in 2013.
The NPD said gas output would rise to 109.5 Bcm in 2014 and 111.2 Bcm in 2017.
It forecast crude production increasing to 1.52 million b/d in 2014 and 1.57 million b/d in 2017.
Oil output will be boosted in the shorter term by the first oil from the Edvard Grieg field in Q4 of 2015 with a forecast gross peak oil production of about 90,000 b/d.
Further out the massive Johan Sverdrup field will come on stream in 2018.
The NPD said Friday that it had revised upward its estimate for that discovery to 1.9 billion barrels of crude from 1.8 billion.
NPD Director General Bente Nyland said Friday that the Sverdrup, Skrugard and other discoveries were ramping up global interest in oil and gas exploration offshore Norway and that record investment would take place in 2013.
The oil and gas industry is expected to invest a record NOK207.8 billion ($38 billion) in 2013 compared with NOK180.6 billion in 2012.
"A high oil price, high level of exploration success and high activity level also set high expectations for the industry," Nyland said.
