October-December net profit rose to 810 million Norwegian crowns ($146.88 million) from a 289-million crown profit a year earlier, beating all the estimates in a Reuters poll of analysts where the mean estimate was for 508 million crowns

The firm said net entitlement production in its oil and gas portfolio averaged 23,207 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day during in the quarter, up from 21,357 boepd in the fourth quarter of 2011.