Norwegians See Decrease In Production In 2016 -- January 14, 2016

Platts is reporting:

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate highlighted huge challenges facing the oil and gas industry in its annual forecasts Thursday, predicting total capital expenditure on the shelf would fall another 10% in 2016 to $15.3 billion as oil output contracted.

That downward adjustment followed the 17% plunge in total spend last year to $16.98 from record investment levels in 2013 and 2014 of around $20.4 billion.

The Stavanger-based directorate said more falls were to come, with spending declining in the next few years towards $13.6 billion.

The NPD said oil output was also expected to fall in 2016 to 89 million cubic meters (1.53 million b/d), despite an upward blip last year thanks to new fields such as Lundin Petroleum's Edvard Grieg. [The conversion factor appears to be 58.1699.]

In round numbers, the Norwegians have been producing around, but never quite reaching, 2 million bopd, although their production has been decreasing.

Know what amazes me? North Dakota, with about 1.2 million bopd is in the same ballpark as Norway with regard to oil production. And when I saw "North Dakota oil production," I am talking about, for all intents and purposes, about 4 counties out of a total of 53 counties in North Dakota. And even among those four, McKenzie and Williams stand out. Dunn and Mountrail are the other two.

And more:

In 2015 Norway's oil production rose to 90.8 million cu m of oil (1.57 million b/d) from 80 fields, compared to 87.7 million cu m (1.51 million b/d) from 77 fields in the previous year.

But the NPD predicted output would fall to 87.3 million cu m  (1.5 million b/d) in 2017 and further again to just 80.2 million cu m (1.4 million b/d) in 2019, when the massive Johan Sverdrup oil field, one of the biggest discoveries ever made offshore Norway, is seen starting production late in the year.

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