French oil major Total SA (TOT) Wednesday announced the start of production at the Tyrihans oil and gas field in the Norwegian Sea, the largest to be brought on stream in the Scandinavian country this year.

Total owns a 23.2% interest in the field. Norway is the single-largest contributor to Total's production, yielding around 335,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2008.

Norway's StatoilHydro ASA (STO) is the operator of Tyrihans, with a 58.8% interest.

Development drilling operations will continue over the next two years, Total said, adding that it expects its share of production to average around 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day over the next decade.

-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 40171756; adam.mitchell@dowjones.com