Norway's combined oil and gas production declined by 4.9% in March but still exceeded an official forecast for the month by 1.1%, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on Wednesday.
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 more than 90 offshore fields.
Overall oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and gas output stood at 0.665 million standard cubic metres per day, equivalent to 4.18 million barrels of oil equivalent, a decrease of 4.9% year-on-year.
Natural gas production in March fell to 351.3 million cubic metres (mcm) per day from 366.2 mcm a year earlier, exceeding a forecast of 349.8 mcm by 0.4%, the regulator said on its website.
Crude oil output fell to 1.76 million barrels per day (bpd) in March from 1.84 million bpd in the same month last year, and came in above a forecast of 1.69 million bpd, NOD's preliminary data showed.
(Reuters - Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Nora Buli)
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