Norwegian natural gas supply beat the government's forecast by 3.1% in September, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported on October 20.
Production averaged 296.8mn m3/day in the month, which was 7.1% higher year on year but 2.5% below the level in August. It is projected to continue growing for the rest of the year, reaching 334mn m3/day in December.
State-owned Equinor got clearance in late September to boost gas flow from the Oseberg and Troll fields by a combined 2bn m3 in the current gas year.
Europe is in the grip of an energy crisis, with wholesale gas and power prices reaching record heights in recent weeks. Norway is the second-biggest gas supplier to the continent after Russia, with its pipeline gas exports totalling 107bn m3 in 2020.
The country's LNG exports ceased in September last year, however, after a serious fire at the Hammerfest liquefaction terminal. The facility is not expected to resume operations until March 2022.
Norwegian production of oil and other liquids averaged 2.022mn barrels/day in September, up 15.8% year on year thanks to increased contributions from Equinor's Johan Sverdrup field. But it came in 0.9% below the forecast and was down 3.3% month on month. (October 21, 2021)
NORWAY - Natural Gas - SUPPLIES - IMPORTS - EXPORTS