The North Sea was thought to be the prime example of how the oil price slump hurt high-cost corners of the energy industry. Yet its crude output is defying the doomsayers. After an increase last year, the region’s production will rise again in 2015 to almost 3 million barrels a day, the first consecutive annual gains in 15 years, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. The extra supply is entering a global market already “awash” with competing grades of oil, it said. The impact will be felt across the world because the North Sea — home of the Brent benchmark — plays an outsized role in the oil market. Even small gains in the region’s output can move prices significantly, according to consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. Production gains resulted […]