NORWAY BOOSTS OIL OUTPUT BY 22 PCT IN SEPTEMBER
Norway's September oil output rose by 22.2
pct to 1.07 mln barrels per day (bpd) from 830,492 bpd in
August, according to a Reuter survey of firms operating here.
    Operators said the sharp rise reflected higher output at
several of Norway's biggest fields and resumed production at
fields shut down for 27 days in August for the Ekofisk field
rescue project.
    Industry analysts said the increase did not exceed Norway's
voluntary move to curb by 7.5 pct planned growth in its oil
output, a move designed to back OPEC-led efforts to stabilise
oil prices by limiting supplies to world crude markets.
    Norway, not an OPEC member, decided in June to extend the
production restraints, enforced since February 1 1987, on all
its North Sea fields for the rest of the year.
    Oil Minister Arne Oeien said last month he expected Norway
would extend into 1988 its policy of slowed production growth.
    The biggest increase was seen on the Ekofisk field, which
pumped 168,023 bpd in September against 48,195 bpd in August,
field operator Phillips Petroleum Norway Inc said.
    Ekofisk and the nearby Valhall and Ula fields, which use
the Ekofisk pipeline, were shut down for most of August while
Phillips raised Ekofisk platforms to counter seabed subsidence.
    BP Petroleum Development Norway Ltd, operator of the Ula
field, said September output rose to 86,727 bpd after dropping
to 27,237 bpd in August because of the shutdown.
    Valhall, operated by Amoco Norway A/S, flowed 74,694 bpd
last month compared with 69,748 bpd in August, the company
said.
    September production was also sharply higher at the
Statfjord field. Norway's 84 pct share of Statfjord, which
extends into the British North Sea sector, was 611,138 bpd
against 552,646 bpd in August, operator Den Norske Stats
Oljeselskap A/S (Statoil) said.
    Norway's 22.2 pct share of the Murchison field which, like
Statfjord, extends into the British sector, yielded 15,388 bpd
in September, a slight 920 bpd decrease from the previous
month, Norwegian partners on the British-operated field said.
    Statoil boosted output at its Gullfaks field to 109,670 bpd
in September, compared with 100,188 in August.
    Norsk Hydro, operator of the Oseberg field, said test
output at the field from the mobile production ship Petro Jarl
totalled 1,719 bpd last month, down sharply from 16,170 bpd in
August.
    Hydro said the drop was caused by failure to bring on
stream a second well, cutting September production to just two
days.
 REUTER
