BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 12. OECD Europe's liquids output in 2023 is expected to increase by 0.2 mb/d to average 3.8 mb/d, Trend reports via monthly oil outlook from OPEC.
According to the report, the forecast has been left unchanged, compared to the previous month's assessment.
As for the main producers, Norway's oil production is expected to grow by 0.2 mb/d - unchanged from the last month's outlook, averaging 2.1 mb/d.
"Norwegian liquids production in March increased by 66,000 b/d month-on-month to average 2.1 mb/d, quite in line with Johan Sverdrup phase-2 ramp-up expectations. Norway's crude production rose by 52,000 b/d month-on-month in March to average 1.8 mb/d, higher by 84,000 b/d year-on-year. Monthly oil production was 0.1 percent higher than the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's (NPD) forecast," the report said.
At the same time, as OPEC mentioned, a number of small-to-large projects are scheduled to begin in 2023 in Norway.
"The Johan Sverdrup ramp-up is projected to be the main source of growth following its Phase 2 start-up in December 2022. However, it seems that field underperformance will remain an issue throughout the year. Equinor announced that Bauge reached first oil this month. The Bauge satellite project, targeting 50 million barrels equivalent of mostly recoverable oil, came onstream 8 April, after more than a year of delays. The field is tied back to the Njord complex. Hyme, another tie-back to the Njord, has been also shut in since 2016, but resumed operations this month," the report added.
Meanwhile, the UK's liquids production in 2023 is forecast to increase by 28,000 b/d to average 0.9 mb/d, also mostly unchanged from the previous forecast.
"A number of new fields, including Seagull, the Penguins Redevelopment, Captain EOR and Saturn Banks phase 1 will help offset base declines in 2023. However, project sanctioning will be essential to maintain future oil and gas output, as UK production has been in long-term decline. In addition, UK offshore workers demanding better pay and conditions voted in favor of a series of short strikes over the coming months. While the impact to production remains unclear, it is likely that the involved companies and unions will reach a deal before output is interrupted," the report said.