Norway sees oil production gains

STAVANGER, Norway, July 16 (UPI) -- The Norwegian government reported Thursday that daily production of oil and natural gas was up from May, though total gas sales declined from May.

Total oil production of about 1.57 million barrels of oil for June is about 10 percent above the same month last year and 5 percent above expectations, the Norwegian National Petroleum Directorate reported.

Data published last month by Statistics Norway show investment in the nation's oil and gas sector is set to level out after a banner start to the decade.

Norway's economy depends largely on oil and gas revenue, and the country serves as one of the key producers for the European energy sector.

The statistics agency said total investment in the energy sector for 2016 is estimated at $23.6 billion, a 1.4 percent increase from the estimate for 2015.

NPD set a goal of adding 5 billion barrels of oil to national reserves. By 2019, operators expect to start production at the Johan Sverdrup field, the fifth largest discovery ever made on the Norwegian continental shelf. In early July, the NPD confirmed reserves were discovered in appraisal wells near the existing Gina Krog field in the North Sea.

The regulator said it estimated the size of the discovery at between 35 million and 70 million cubic feet of oil equivalent, which would be an average 9.3 million barrels if the entire discovery existed as oil.

NPD said total natural gas sales for June were down from the previous month, however. Eurostat, the statistic agency for the European Union, reported regional inflation of 0.2 percent represented a 0.1 percent decline from May.

In June 2014, regional inflation was 0.5 percent. Cyprus and Greece posted the largest declines for June 2015.