Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA said oil and gas output rebounded from the lowest in at least nine years in the third quarter, joining Statoil ASA in reporting higher production following startups from the Gulf of Mexico to Norway.

Total, Europe’s third-biggest oil producer, increased output for the first time in more than a year after ramping up Nigeria’s Akpo oilfield and Tahiti in the Gulf. Statoil, the world’s largest offshore operator, benefited from the start of operations at Tyrihans in the Norwegian Sea, as did Total.

“Total may be turning the corner, which bodes well for 2010,” said Neill Morton, a London-based analyst at MF Global UK Ltd. “Statoil looks to be on track to meet its full-year production guidance.”

Higher output went some way to offsetting a slump in quarterly earnings caused by lower energy prices and weaker refining margins. Both producers are set to capitalize from higher oil prices, which are up 13 percent this quarter, pushing crude futures to the strongest in a year.

Statoil’s 8 percent increase in equity production outpaced all the major European oil companies to have reported third- quarter earnings so far. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the region’s No. 1, said output was flat while BP Plc reported a 6.9 percent increase.

“Statoil had the highest production growth among its peers in the third quarter,” said John Olaisen, an analyst at Carnegie ASA in Oslo, who has an “outperform” rating on the stock. “Production will be very good in the fourth quarter with new fields coming on stream.”

Shares Advance

Total rose 1 percent to 41.35 euros as of 1:40 p.m. in Paris. Statoil gained 2.3 percent to 138.8 kroner in Oslo.

Production at Total is “back on track,” Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said, after output climbed 0.5 percent to 2.243 million barrels of oil equivalent a day from the year-earlier period. Output was 2.8 percent higher than the second quarter.

In September, Total reversed its expectations for higher average output this year, though it predicts growth of about 2 percent through 2014 as five developments offset an annual decline rate of about 5 percent.

The Paris-based company said all its major projects due this year are now all completed following the start of operations at the Tombua Landana field in Angola, train B of the Qatargas 2 LNG project and Yemen LNG.

“Production is better than expected,” Alexandre Andlauer, a Paris-based analyst at Alphavalue SAS, said in a telephone interview. “Refining remains difficult.”

Further Gains

Production in the coming months “should reflect the ongoing ramp up from the major projects started up in 2009 and maintenance levels normally below that of the third quarter,” Total said in today’s statement.

Final investment decisions will be made in the coming quarters on projects including the Surmont Phase 2 in Canada, CLOV in Angola and Laggan-Tormore in the U.K., Total said.

Total’s share of new projects will add as much as 230,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in output in 2010, Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere said earlier this year.

Statoil’s equity oil and gas production rose to 1.874 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the quarter from a year earlier. Output for the first nine months of 2009 gained 2 percent 1.93 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, the Stavanger, Norway-based company said in a statement.

‘Good Results’

Statoil’s CEO Helge Lund said the producer’s exploration program “continues to yield good results.”

Production was higher after startups at the Tyrihans field in Norway and Thunder Hawk in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as increased output from Angola and Nigeria and the resumption of the North Sea’s Kvitebjoern field. The company kept an outlook for production of 1.95 million barrels a day in 2009 and 2.2 million barrels in 2012.

Excluding changes in inventories and the value of a stake in Sanofi-Aventis SA, Total’s earnings fell 54 percent to 1.87 billion euros ($2.8 billion) from a year earlier. That narrowly beat the 1.8 billion-euro median estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Statoil’s operating profit fell 40 percent to 28.3 billion kroner ($4.9 billion).

Oil futures in New York fell 42 percent to an average of $68.24 in the third quarter from a year earlier. Refining margins in Europe slumped 85 percent to $6.6 a metric ton in the quarter, the lowest in at least seven years, according to Total.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.netMarianne Stigset at mstigset@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 07:46 EST