Petroleum sector drags on Norway's manufacturing sector

The slight decrease in overall manufacturing activity in the Norwegian economy can be attributed to weakness in petroleum-related activity, the government said.

Norway is one of largest supplier of oil and natural gas for the European economy and has faced headwinds because of the lower price for crude oil. Statistics Norway, the government's record-keeping office, said there was a 2.1 percent decline in cash collections on manufacturing activity from June to August.

"It was petroleum-related manufacturing, with a share of 24 percent of total manufacturing turnover, helping to pull down the total turnover," the government office said in its report. "The grouping of supplier industries to the oil and gas sector edged down 9.9 percent."

Weak economic growth in the latter half of 2016 for Norway has replaced an economic standstill, with gains in home-building and exports expected to provide a lift through early 2017. Last month, the country's central bank said it was keeping its key policy rate unchanged, noting crude oil prices had recovered from historic lows in the first quarter.

A recent agreement by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to work toward a production cap later this year helped push crude oil prices to yearly highs this week.

Total production of oil and natural gas liquids for Norway was down almost 10 percent, the Norwegian government said, though some of the decline was not market related. At least one field in Norwegian waters was closed for maintenance.

Statistics Norway said it expects total investments in oil, gas, mining and other parts of the electricity supply will reach $26 billion, a figure that's 12.3 percent lower than last year.