Norway’s combined petroleum output lagged an official forecast by 1.7% in September as gas production was lower than expected, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on Monday.

Norway is Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas and a major producer of oil, but output varies from month to month depending on maintenance needs and other stoppages at more than 90 offshore fields.

Overall oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and gas output stood at 0.515 million standard cubic metres per day, equivalent to 3.24 million barrels of oil equivalent, an increase of 3.8% year-on-year.

Natural gas production in September rose to 241.3 million cubic metres (mcm) per day from 201.3 mcm a year earlier, but lagged a forecast of 249.4 mcm by 3.2%, the regulator said on its website.

Crude oil output fell to 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) in September from 1.68 million bpd in the same month last year, but still came in above a forecast of 1.57 million bpd, NOD’s preliminary data showed.

Source: Reuters reported by Terje Solsvik, edited by Stine Jacobsen and Anna Ringstrom