FACTBOX-Key facts on North Sea oil production

May 28 (Reuters) - Britain said it was planning a small cut in taxes on North Sea oil and gas production in the hope of adding a small amount of extra production and announced strong interest in the latest oil licensing round.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown met oil executives on Wednesday to discuss measures to boost North Sea production.

Here are some key facts about North Sea oil production:

-- The North Sea region contains Western Europe's largest oil and natural gas reserves, including the Norwegian Sea and west of the Shetlands.

-- It is one of the world's major non-OPEC oil producing regions and the second-largest supplier of natural gas to continental Europe, after Russia.

-- Initial oil and natural gas discoveries were made in the 1970s but exploration in its inhospitable climate at great depths became feasible during the 1980s and the 1990s with a rise in oil prices.

* PROVEN RESERVES:

-- Five countries -- Norway, Britain, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands -- operate production facilities with 14.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in 2005.

-- Norway holds 57 percent of these reserves while Britain holds 30 percent. Total oil production was 5.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2005.