Norway's oil production fell in March from the previous month, missing official forecasts by 4.4% due to technical problems at some fields, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Friday.

The country's crude oil output was down by 4.5% month-on-month from February to 1.68 million barrels per day. The output year-on-year, however, was up by 21%, mainly thanks to the ramp-up of Equinor's giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield.

Daily natural gas output rose by 1.1% month-on-month, more than officially forecast, but it was 2% down from a year ago. Overall monthly gas output in March totaled 10.7 billion cubic meters.