STATOIL (STO), a Norwegian oil and gas company, said Thursday it
expected production to fall in 2013 because of the terror attack on its facility
in
Algeria
and
lower gas output in the
U.S.
and
Europe
, but
posted higher-than-forecast net profit for the fourth quarter.
Statoil's fourth-quarter net profit was 12.98 billion Norwegian kroner ($2.36
billion), or NOK4.07 a share, down 49% on the year. Despite the drop, net
profit beat the forecast of NOK11.94 billion in a FactSet poll of 20 analysts.
At 0949
GMT, shares were up 2.4% at NOK147.80.