Technical problems were to blame for a drop in average daily oil production from Norway, one of Europe’s main suppliers, the government said. The National Petroleum Directorate, the nation’s energy regulator, said March oil production averaged 1.5 million barrels per day, based on preliminary figures. “Oil production is approximately 5 percent lower than the NPD’s forecast, and about 3.0 percent below the forecast this year,” the directorate stated Thursday. “The main reasons that production in March was below forecast is technical problems on some fields.” The government provided few other specifics on the downturn. On the potential for future production, the Johan Sverdrup oil field in the Norwegian waters could be producing as much as 660,000 once all operational phases are in service by […]