By Gwladys Fouche and Ole Petter Skonnord
OSLO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Norway's Aker BP willincrease its dividend payments between now and 2023 and step upits investment spending in developing offshore oil and gasfields next year, the independent oil company said on Thursday.
The result of a 2016 merger between the Norwegian operationsof BP and the Det norske oil firm owned by Norwegianbillionaire Kjell Inge Roekke, Aker has become one of Norway'sbiggest offshore players.
"The board proposes dividends for 2019 of $750 million, upfrom $450 million in 2018, with an ambition to increase dividendpayments by $100 million per year to 2023," Aker BP said in astatement.
The 2019 payout was an increase of $200 million from itsprevious plan.
"We guess share price up 4-6 percent vs market today, mainlydue to the aggressive dividend guidance," said Sparebank 1Markets analyst Teodor Sveen-Nilsen in a note to clients.
Aker BP, which is holding an investors' day in Oslo onThursday, said it would also raise its capital expenditure by athird to $1.6 billion between 2018 and 2019 and its explorationspending by 40 percent to $500 million over the same period.
Aker BP expects its output to be broadly flat year on yearbut says its production could triple by 2025.
It expects production in 2019 of between 155,000 and 160,000barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) compared to an averageoutput of 155,700 boepd in 2018, it said.
Holding company Aker ASA, controlled by Roekke,owns a 40 percent stake in Aker BP, while BP owns 30 percent.(Editing by Terje Solsvik and Jason Neely)