Oil output from Norway beats expectations

Oil production from Norwegian territory in August was 10 percent higher than what was predicted, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Tuesday.

NPD said average daily oil production of 1.48 million barrels per day in August was 10 percent above what was expected and 1 percent about what was produced during the same month in 2013.

"So far this year the oil production is about 2 percent above the NPD's prognosis," the agency said in its monthly report.

Total gas sales from Norwegian operations were around 257 billion cubic feet in August, about 9 percent less than the previous month.

NPD attributed some of the variations to fields closed in August due to regular maintenance and technical problems.

Norway has more oil reserves than any other European country. Last year, it exported 1.19 million bpd worth of oil, with most of that headed to the British and Dutch economies.

In terms of gas, it's the third largest exporter in the world behind Russia and Qatar.