More Norway Oil Projects Being Delayed

Oil firms are purposefully delaying the development of oil and gas fields off Norway, the head of the agency tasked with managing the country's oil and gas resources told Reuters on Thursday.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate was expecting some 13 development projects to be submitted by energy firms to Norwegian authorities this year and the next, but none have so far been submitted.

"Our impression is that there is an increased number of oil projects that are being delayed," Bente Nyland, the head of the NPD, told Reuters on the margins of a news conference.

"We see that they are being moved by a few weeks or by a quarter, or even longer ... (But) we expect a few to be submitted this autumn."

(Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg, writing by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)