Historical archive

Norwegian oil production cuts in July

Historical archive

Published under: Solberg's Government

Publisher: Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

To contribute to a faster stabilization of the oil market after the extensive global infection control measures, related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Norwegian Government decided on cuts in the Norwegian oil production from 1 June until 31 December 2020.

The actual production figures for the Norwegian Continental Shelf in July show an oil production of 1,739,000 barrels per day. This means a cut in July of 120,000 barrels per day compared to the reference production.

In June and July, the combined oil production per day has been 52,000 barrels lower than the level Norway committed to in the regulation period.

Background

The King in Council decided May 7, 2020 to reduce the Norwegian oil production. The production cuts are contributing to a faster stabilization of the oil market, compared to letting the rebalancing take place only though market mechanisms. The decision to reduce Norwegian oil production has been made on an independent basis and with Norwegian interests at heart.

The production should be reduced by 250,000 barrels per day in June and 134,000 barrels per day on average in second half compared to the reference production. In addition, production from several new field developments is delayed until 2021. In December 2020, the total Norwegian oil production will be 300,000 barrels per day lower than what the companies have planned for.

The actual production figures for the Norwegian Continental Shelf in June showed an oil production of 1,543,000 barrels per day. This means that the cut in the Norwegian oil production in June was 316,000 barrels per day compared to the reference production, or 66,000 barrels more than the announced cuts. These 66,000 barrels per day below the quotas for the fields in June, can be added to the production quotas in second half.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate publishes  production figures monthly.

April: Reducing oil production on the NCS

May: On production cuts (Norwegian only)

June: On Norwegian oil production cuts