Norwegian energy company Norsk Hydro revises production

Jun 30, 2006, 14:23 GMT

Oslo - Norwegian energy company Norsk Hydro said Friday it has revised its oil and gas production target for 2006 by 5 per cent due to 'unforeseen events' in Norway, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico.

The production was expected to be 585,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boed) instead of 615,000 boe.

Hydro said it was experiencing production shortfall from the non-Hydro-operated fields in Norway, which was attributed to the unplanned shutdown of the Visund field and delayed production build-up from new fields and delayed drilling of production wells.

The effect of hurricanes in 2005 in the Gulf of Mexico, and a maintenance shutdown until September in the Terra Nova field in Canada were other factors mentioned in the company statement.

Fields operated by Hydro in Norway were producing according to plan, and the Grane field was above planned levels, the group said.

For the second quarter, oil and gas production was estimated to be about 535,000 boed, Hydro said.