Crude and lease condensate production in the North Sea is set for lower levels in the summer months, further tightening the global oil market which is already grappling with production declines in Iran and Venezuela, OPEC’s cuts, and a contamination issue that shut some Russian pipeline supplies to Europe, according to Rystad Energy. Current unplanned outages at Oseberg and Flotta in the North Sea restrict a total of 160,000 bpd of North Sea production, the energy research firm said on Friday. Rystad has estimated that outages in the North Sea in May will be 185,000 bpd. Yet, the biggest disruption is expected next month, when North Sea oil production is seen down to its lowest level since August 2014 because of scheduled maintenance at Ekofisk. According to Rystad Energy’s field production and maintenance forecast, North Sea oil production will slump in June to 2.28 million bpd, when 462,000 bpd […]