* EBITDA $171.5 mln vs $182 mln forecast
* Brynhild start up seen in Q4
* Maintains production guidance (Adds detail)
OSLO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Swedish oil producer LundinPetroleum reported second-quarter earnings belowexpectations on Wednesday and warned that a major project inNorway was at risk of a further delay.
Lundin, which produces oil and gas in Norway and south eastAsia, said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation andamortisation (EBITDA) fell 29 percent to $171.5 million, shortof expectations for $182 million, as its fields in the North Seacontinue to mature and production declines.
The firm also warned that the start up of its Brynhildproject in Norway, already several times delayed, could slipback further because of likely delays at a Shell project, which Lundin will to tie the field into.
Start-up is now seen in the fourth quarter instead ofSeptember, around a year behind the original schedule, Lundinsaid.
The company said it remains on track to produce between24,000 and 29,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boepd) in2014 and around 50,000 boepd in 2015 as new fields comeonstream.
Lundin also said that work on the $20 billion Johan Sverdrupfield, Europe's biggest oil discovery in decades, wasprogressing on schedule and Statoil, the operator,plans to submit a development plan in early 2015.
Sverdrup, which will produce between 550,000 and 650,000boepd after starting up in late 2019, has been Lundin's mostlucrative find, which has pushed the valuation on its stocksharply higher.
Lundin is one of the most highly-valued shares amongEuropean oil firms, trading at 4.5 times its book value, morethan twice the average of its peers, reflecting the potential ofSverdrup.
But the stock has underperformed its peers recently, falling3.1 percent since the start of the year against a 5.5 percentrise in the European oil and gas index, reflectingdisappointing exploration wells and the Brynhild delay.
In the second quarter, the firm produced 27,500 barrels ofoil equivalents per day (boepd) in line with expectations for27,462 boepd in a Reuters poll of analysts (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi, editing by Terje Solsvik. Editingby Jane Merriman)
