UPDATE 1-Norway's oil and gas output miss targets in February

* Oil production 1.44 mln barrels per day vs 1.48 mlnforecast * Gas sales 8.85 bln cubic metres vs 9.16 bln target * Several fields sustain problems OSLO, March 14 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil and gas productionfell in February, missing already low expectations as severalfields struggled with unexpected issues, the Norwegian PetroleumDirectorate said on Thursday. Oil production fell to 1.44 million barrels per day, shortof forecasts to maintain January's level of 1.48 million, theNPD said in a statement. Oil production from Norway, the world's seventh largestexporter, is expected to fall to a 25-year low this year asfields mature and new finds still need years to come on stream. "The oil production is about 0.5 percent below the NPD'sprognosis so far this year," the NPD said. Oil output is forecast to rise to 1.49 million barrels inMarch. Fields sustaining reduced output because of technical issuesincluded Statoil's Oseberg and Troll, and BP's Skarv and Valhall. Statoil's Grane field had reduced productionbecause of maintenance work. Gas sales from Norway, which supplies a fifth of theEuropean Union's needs, totalled 8.85 billion cubic metres inFebruary, well down from January's 10.48 billion and below theNPD's forecast for 9.16 billion. Although gas sales are forecast to rebound to 10.0 billioncubic metres in March, an unexpected outage at the huge Trollfield and temporary problems at the plant processing gas fromShell's Ormen Lange field will likely make that targetdifficult to reach.