OSLO, April 25 (Reuters) - Equinor on Thursday posted higher-than-expected profits for the first quarter and said this was driven by high production in its native Norway and strong operational performance.

The Norwegian oil and gas producer's adjusted earnings before tax for January-March fell to $7.53 billion from $11.92 billion a year earlier amid lower gas prices, beating the $7.2 billion seen in a poll of 22 analysts compiled by Equinor. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik)