Total oil production in August from Norway, one of Europe's main suppliers, was slightly lower than expected, the government said Friday.

Apart from Russia, Norway is one of the leading energy suppliers to the European economy, designating nearly all of its offshore production for exports. The National Petroleum Directorate reported preliminary figures for August at 1.55 million barrels of oil per day on average.

"The oil production is about 1.4 percent below the oil production in August last year and is about 1.6 percent below the NPD's prognosis for August 2017," the nation's regulator said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the NPD told UPI the decline was probably due to regular field maintenance. A similar reason was given for the recent decline in oil production from Russia, a party to an effort steered by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to balance the market with managed output cuts.

For the Norwegian economy, minutes published by the Norwegian Central Bank from its June meeting indicate managers viewed the economy as underperforming. The executive board said there was a need for continued expansionary policies because inflation in the coming years could stay below 2 percent, a level seen as indicative of healthy growth.

Since 2014, oil prices have been low by historic standards and prices related to new services contracts for the energy sector are down as a result. Some major economies that rely on oil and gas for revenue, meanwhile, have faced headwinds as a result.

For gas, the NPD said sales were lower as well, but gas production was higher than expected. Total oil production so far this year was about 0.5 percent above what the NPD expected.

Data from the NPD for the eastern and northern parts of the Barents Sea, areas previously a source of dispute with Russia, led to upward revisions of the reserve estimate. The region in general is already expecting a record this year in terms of the number of exploration wells at 15, up two wells from the previous record in 2014.

By late 2019, Norway will add production from the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea. At peak capacity, Johan Sverdrup should account for up to 25 percent of total Norwegian petroleum production.

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