State-controlled Equinor reported a 9% year-on-year drop in its Norwegian oil output for the first quarter on Friday, suggesting continued problems and steep natural decline at currently producing fields ahead of the startup of the giant Johan Sverdrup field later this year. The reduction, to 546,000 b/d, was mostly offset by a 12% increase in Equinor’s international production, to 443,000 b/d, likely driven by increases in Brazil and the US, and by stable gas production, which rose by 2% both in its Norwegian and international operations. But the fall in Equinor’s Norwegian oil output reflects wider difficulties for the Norwegian oil industry, as the nation’s oil production overall also fell by 9% year on year in the first quarter, to 1.78 million b/d, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Equinor previously reported its oil output […]