* Government aims to keep output at 10 million bpd
* Well ahead of Saudi but has little to no spare capacity
* Gas output down slightly month-on-month and year-on-year
(Adds exports, ranking in global output)
MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - Russia increased oil output in February, approaching record levels and retaining its status as the world's top producer, but leaving little spare capacity to respond to global supply shocks, data showed on Wednesday.
Russia produced 10.23 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, up from 10.21 million bpd in January and just shy of October's daily record 10.26 million bpd, the Energy Ministry data showed.
Russia forecasts its output for the rest of the decade will average 10 million bpd or slightly more.
It exported 5.24 million bpd, the data, provided by Russia's Energy Ministry, showed.
At February's rate, Russia comfortably maintained its rank as the world's top crude producer with a margin of 1.6 million bpd over Saudi Arabia during the month, according to a Reuters survey..
But unlike Saudi Arabia, Russia boasts little, if any, spare capacity to step into any gaps caused by political upheaval in the Middle East.
A senior Saudi oil official said on Monday the kingdom was pumping at 9 million bpd and still had 3.5 million bpd of spare capacity.
Russia faces significant costs in the coming years to squeeze more oil out of the ageing Soviet-era fields of Western Siberia and expand new projects, much of whose oil is destined for the fast-growing markets of Asia.
The marginal output that has helped the country pump at peak levels has largely been from smaller producers such as the fields of Sakhalin, operated by Russian and foreign oil companies under production-sharing agreements.
Gas output slipped slightly to 2.04 billion cubic meters per day, a decline of 10 million cubic metres per day from the previous month and 0.4 percent below its output level in February 2010. (Reporting by Gleb Gorodyankin; writing by Melissa Akin; editing by James Jukwey)