LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - European energy stocks fellsharply after the Norwegian government said its trillion-dollarsovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, will drop oil andgas companies from its benchmark index and its investmentuniverse.
At 1053 GMT the European oil and gas index was down1.6 percent at sessions lows, while BP and Shellwere down 1.9 precent and 2.2 percent respectively.
Stocks had been under pressure earlier in the session fromweak Chinese trade data and falling crude prices.(Reporting by Josephine MasonEditing by David Goodman)