Norway's August Gas Output Down, Misses Target

Norwegian gas output fell again in August, against the previous month, the previous year and the forecast, as maintenance and technical problems affected offshore operations.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's data published September 24 showed total sales were 8.16bn m³, which is down 1.4bn m³ from the previous month. The forecast output for the month was 9.199bn m³. While maintenance is a feature of summer output, as plants need to be readied for the peak demand season, the programme would have been known at the time of the forecast, which was last December. It is the fourth month running that output has lagged behind the guidance, being 2.5bn m³ lower than forecast over those months, and so Norwegian output is likely to outturn a little lower than last year.

Cumulative output of 79.08bn m³ compares with the forecast 81.21bn m³ and the actual 81.67bn m³ for the same period of last year. For the first four months, forecasts and actual production matched. Next month sees the start of the giant Johan Sverdrup oil and gas field, ahead of schedule (pictured).

Source: NPD