Norway, western Europe’s biggest oil producer, will probably cut its long-term forecast for crude production as companies reduce spending to counter rising costs and improve shareholder returns. As investments in Norway’s oil industry fall after a peak this year, production beyond 2015 will be lower than expected, according to Bente Nyland, head of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The estimate cuts are expected to be reflected in the NPD’s annual prognosis scheduled to be published in January. “There might be a certain decrease,” she said in an interview in Stavanger today. “It’s capital discipline, it’s costs.” Norway is struggling to sustain oil production that’s more than halved since a peak in 2000 as producers including Statoil ASA (STL) scale back spending plans. The NPD in its latest prognosis in January predicted oil production would rise this year and remain stable through 2018. Still, the […]