OSLO (AFP) - Norwegian energy group Statoil said Thursday its profits for 2009 had fallen on weaker gas and oil prices and that it was lowering its production target for 2012 due to uncertainty in the gas market.

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For 2009, Statoil reported a 58 percent drop in net profit compared to 2008, to 18.3 billion Norwegian kroner (2.3 billion euros, 3.1 billion dollars).

Also on a year-to-year basis, company's sales were down 29 percent to 462.3 billion kroner.

Statoil, which is 67 percent state-owned, produced 1.962 million barrels of oil-equivalent per day in 2009, beating its own production objective of 1.95 million barrels a day and its 2008 level of 1.925 million barrels a day.

But the rise in production was offset by a drop in oil and gas prices.

In kroner, oil tumbled 29 percent and the price of gas was down 21 percent.

Uncertainties in the gas market caused the group to bring down its entire production target for 2012.

The gas market is experiencing over-supply, which puts downward pressure on prices and makes companies question the relevance of investing in costly gas projects.

Statoil said it was aiming to produce a total of "between 2.1 and 2.2 million barrels a day," compared to a previous target of 2.2 million barrels.

In the last three months of 2009, Statoil reported a net profit of 7.2 billion kroner against 2 billion kroner in the last quarter of 2008, in which profit had been sunk by one-off financial items.

The quarterly results were below the 9.9 billion kroner expected by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

"Statoil continues to deliver solid economic and operational results in a demanding market," CEO Helge Lund said.

"The activity level is high, and our production is growing," he added.

For the year ahead, Statoil plans to invest 13 billion dollars.

Its exploration budget is set at 2.3 billion dollars.

At around 1200 GMT, Statoil's shares were up 2.52 percent to 130.1 kroner, on an Oslo Stock Market up 1.14 percent.

Also on Thursday, Statoil's French rival Total reported an annual net profit for 2009 down 44 percent to 7.8 billion euros.