"Regulation of Norwegian crude oil production will be a temporary arrangement in response to an exceptional market situation, and will not be a permanent element of the Norwegian market policy," he said.

Last week, the oil and energy ministry said it will lift its curb on oil production in the second half of the year. The ministry also added that the decision was independent and not part of any formalised deal with OPEC or any oil producing nations outside OPEC.

In December, Norway agreed to support OPEC in its bid to bolster sagging oil prices, and reduced its daily production by 150,000 barrels to approximately 3 million barrels a day.