Norway expects jump in oil output and gas near record highs
OSLO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Norway's oil output is expected to rise by 6.9% this year as the huge Johan Sverdrup field ramps up production while gas volumes are predicted to remain unchanged near record highs, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Monday.
Production of crude oil and other petroleum liquids such as condensate is likely to increase to 2.02 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 from 1.89 million last year, NPD's forecasts show.
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Norway last year overtook Russia as Europe's biggest gas supplier, with Equinor the top exporter, after Russia's Gazprom cut off much of the gas on which Europe previously depended.
Investment by oil and gas producers, including for exploration, is expected to rise to 189 billion Norwegian crowns ($19.1 billion) this year and peak at 202 billion crowns in 2025, up from 172 billion crowns in 2022, the NPD said in a statement.
"This will help to ensure that Norway can continue to be a reliable supplier of energy to Europe," said NPD Director General Torgeir Stordal.
The combined volume of oil and gas is expected to rise to 4.12 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in 2023, up from a preliminary 3.99 million boed last year, the NPD's forecasts show.
Overall Norwegian output is forecast to continue to rise in the coming years, hitting a two-decade high of 4.3 million boed in 2025, just shy of a record 4.54 million barrels produced in 2004, the NPD predicted.
The country's gas output is expected to stay virtually unchanged in 2023 at 122 billion cubic metres (bcm), or 2.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, the NPD said, in line with a recent government projection. ($1 = 9.9232 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis Editing by Terje Solsvik and David Goodman)