* Norway imposes 78 pct tax on oil production
* Oil price fall led to investment, job cuts
* Government wants oil firms to focus on cost cuts (Releads, adds quotes, details)
By Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Norway should give companies fiscalincentives to continue production from maturing oilfields in theNorth Sea as investment falls, Exxon Mobil ProductionVice President John Chaplin said on Wednesday.
Unlike many other oil and gas producers, Norway, WesternEurope's top oil producer, hands out licences for free andsubsidises exploration and development costs, before imposing a78 percent tax on production.
The change in the taxation system in 2004 led to anexploration boom which resulted in finds such as the giant JohanSverdrup field in 2010.
But with oil prices having more than halved since their June2014 peak, companies have slashed investment and axed more than25,000 jobs in Norway's oil sector, and more cuts are expected.
"I think so," Chaplin told Reuters, when asked if Norwayshould provide tax incentives for the production phase.
"Most countries have come to that conclusion ... The UK hasrecognised that they need to have investments for the tail-endproduction," he said on the sidelines of the InternationalPetroleum Tax conference, where other speakers raised the issue.
However, there was little appetite from the Norwegiangovernment to lower taxes for oil companies as it may have todip deeper into its sovereign wealth fund to plug its structuralbudget deficit.
Nikolai Astrup, energy spokesman for the ruling ConservativeParty, told the conference that the government was committed tokeeping the oil tax regime unchanged, while some politicianswere calling for higher taxes on carbon emissions.
"The government is committed to maintain predictability ...stability and no changes is better than negative changes," hesaid, adding that companies should cut costs instead.
Exxon's Chaplin, however, said companies might not have timeto wait for the oil price rebound and might look for newopportunities elsewhere, in places such as Iran or Africa.
"When you see 78 percent tax take, you wonder if you shouldgo to Mozambique of somewhere else," he said.
The U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil expected production fromKazakhstan's vast Kashagan oil field, the world's biggest oilfind in decades, to resume at the end of 2016, Chaplin said.
The oil field is being developed by a consortium whichincludes KazMunaiGas, Exxon Mobil, Eni, RoyalDutch Shell, Total, China's CNPC and Japan's Inpex.
It began production in September 2013 but output was halteda few weeks later after leaks were detected in its pipes.
Chaplin said the European refining sector remained a brightspot and the company was committed to continue investing in itsrefineries.
"We have a positive view of Europe, but it's a challengingenvironment ... The best run refineries will always do well,"Chaplin said. (Editing by David Clarke)