Norway
During the first 6 months of 2005, Norways oil production averaged 2.95 million bbl/d. The bulk of Norways oil production occurs in the North Sea, with smaller amounts in the Norwegian Sea. Norwegian oil production rose dramatically from 1980 until the mid-1990s, but has since remained flat. The largest oil field in Norway is the Troll complex, operated by Norsk Hydro, which produced 306,000 bbl/d in 2004. Other important fields include Ecofisk (ConocoPhillips), Snorre (Statoil), Oseberg (Norsk Hydro), and Draugen (Shell). There is a great emphasis on increasing production from existing projects, including the incorporation of smaller satellite fields. Statoil, for example, plans to bring the Svale and Staer fields online by the end of 2005, a project that will take advantage of existing infrastructure at the Norne field. The company is also developing satellite wells at the Asgard field.
Industry analysts consider the Norway Continental Shelf (NCS) a mature oil producing region. Most of the countrys flagship oil fields have peaked, with production remaining flat or declining slightly. For example, the Oseberg complex produced 503,000 bbl/d in 1993, but only 229,000 bbl/d during the first five months of 2005. Companies are still discovering oil in the NCS, but none of the recent finds have been significant. In 2003, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) reported that oil companies made eleven new discoveries, potentially holding 189-566 million barrels of oil, far less than what the country produced for the year. There are about 60 oil and natural gas discoveries that are still undeveloped, representing about 4.4 billion barrels of liquids and 16 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas. Drilling activity on the NCS in 2004 was the lowest it has been in a decade. At the time, many blamed the low drilling rate on a four-month rig strike; however, during the first half of 2005, the rate of exploratory drilling was similar to that of 2004.
Because Norway shares the North Sea region with the United Kingdom, the two must coordinate efforts when dealing with reserves that straddle the division of each countries respective zone. In April 2005, the two countries signed a bilateral treaty detailing the handling of such resources. The treaty was the first step toward a general framework for inter-boundary oil projects, as previous projects have been governed by separate, one-time treaties and negotiations.

Total oil production (including condensates, natural gas liquids, and refinery gain) in the UK was 2.08 million bbl/d in 2004, a 13 percent decrease from 2003 and 30 percent below the peak of production in 1999. The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), located in the North Sea off the eastern coast of the UK, contains the bulk of the countrys oil reserves. Most of the UK crude oil grades are light and sweet (30° to 40° API), which generally makes them attractive to foreign buyers.
The UK government expects oil production in the country to continue to decline, reaching 1.38 million bbl/d by 2009. Reasons for this decline include: 1) the overall maturity of the country’s oil fields, 2) the application of new crude oil extraction technologies that lead to field exhaustion at a quicker rate, and 3) increasing costs as production shifts to more remote and inhospitable regions.

Denmark
In 2004, Denmarks total oil production was 391,000 bbl/d. Many new fields have come onstream in the past six years, including Halfdan, Siri, and Syd Anre, Nina, Cecilie and Nif, developments which have helped to bolster Denmarks crude oil production.. In July 2004, Danish oil and gas company (DONG) announced that, after completing the CA-3 appraisal well in the Cecilie field, the company found commercial volumes of oil and will proceed with the wells development. Other fields under development include Adda and Boje.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands produced 94,900 bbl/d in 2004. Overall, the Netherlands oil production has been in decline since 1986, when it peaked at 123,400 bbl/d.
Germany
In 2004, Germany produced 161,500 bbl/d. Most of Germanys oil production is onshore; however, the country does operate a single offshore oil field, Mittelplate, located in the North Sea.

Norway and the United Kingdom are signifigant oil exporters, though Denmark is also a small net exporter. Because Norway only consumes a relatively small amount of oil each year, the country is able to export the vast majority of its oil production. In 2003, Norway was the third-largest net oil exporter in the world, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. The largest single recipient of Norways exports is the United Kingdom, which imported 814,500 bbl/d from Norway, or 34 percent of Norways total exports. Other significant destinations included the Netherlands (14 percent), the United States (11 percent), and Germany (9 percent).
The UK has been a net exporter of crude oil since 1981, though the country does import large quantities of oil from Norway. According to the British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the largest destinations of crude oil exports in 2003 were the United States (31 percent), the Netherlands (26 percent), France (16 percent), and Germany (14 percent). Much of the crude oil exported to the Netherlands is not actually consumed there, but rather sold at the Rotterdam spot market. In 2004, the UK exported 235,000 bbl/d of crude oil and 134,000 bbl/d of petroleum products to the U.S., contributing 2.3 percent and 4.7 percent to total U.S. crude oil and petroleum product imports, respectively.