Norway’s oil fund posted a record quarterly return of 13.5 percent on investments in the third quarter due to a rebound in international stock markets, the central bank said Tuesday.

Norges Bank said the 163 billion kroner ($29.2 billion) in returns
lifted the value of the Government Pension Fund-Global to 2.55 trillion
kroner at the end of the July-September quarter. The fund was worth
about 2.12 trillion kroner a year earlier.

Norway invests its vast oil wealth in the sovereign wealth fund,
commonly known as the oil fund, which it uses to finance its
cradle-to-grave welfare system while protecting against inflation.

“The strong upturn in markets in the second quarter continued in the
third quarter,” said Yngve Slyngstad, chief investment manager at
Norges Bank.

The high returns, building on gains of 12.7 percent in the previous
quarter, marked a turnaround for the oil fund after it suffered its
worst year ever in 2008 _ when it lost 23 percent as the financial
crisis caused asset prices to nosedive in the final months of that year.

Since 2007, the fund has shifted about one-fifth of its investments
from government bonds to higher risk and potentially higher yield stock
equities, which now account for about 62 percent of its holdings. The
change came after the Finance Ministry, which controls the fund, raised
the target for stock investments to 60 percent from 40 percent.

Slyngstad has said that Norway’s oil fund is probably the largest
equity investor in Europe, with holdings in 7,000 companies worldwide.

The Nordic nation of 4.8 million people is a major oil and natural gas
exporter, and invests surplus oil revenue abroad to avoid overheating
its domestic economy.

Source: Associated Press

Search to find what you want

• Norway\u0026#39;s oil fund with record marks at 12.7% Quarterly Gain

    Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Europe’s biggest stock owner, said the value of its investments rose a record 12.7 percent in the second quarter after shares rallied on signs the global economic slump was easing. The Government Pension Fund – Global climbed by 270 billion kroner ($45 billion) as measured by a

• Norway expects higher oil demand, prices in 2010

    Norway, the world’s fifth largest oil exporter, expects the average price of oil to rise next year as demand grows because of improved global economic growth. The price of crude will average 425 kroner a barrel next year, or $70 a barrel assuming an exchange rate of 6 kroner per

• Norway Hydro Q4 loss narrows

    Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA said Wednesday its fourth quarter net loss narrowed to 587 million kroner ($100 million) due to cost-cutting measures and a slight upturn in the aluminum market.

• StatoilHydro outcome may relate to the drop in prices and demand

     StatoilHydro ASA, Norway’s largest oil company, may post a 62 percent decline in second-quarter profit after the global recession eroded fuel demand, cutting prices for crude and natural gas.  Net income probably fell to 7.1 billion kroner ($1.2 billion) from 18.8 billion kroner a year earlier, according to the median estimate

• Lindo shipyard ready to go green

    Green development at Odense Steel Shipyard has now been secured with the establishment of a fund consisting of a few powerful Danish businessmen. OSS, better known as Lind? Shipyard, is being shut down by its owner, A.P.

• Downturn for Copenhagen Malmö Port

    The dramatic downturn in the global economy reduced total cargo volumes within CMP to 15 million tonnes, around 17 pct. lower than the previous year. The biggest fall was within car distribution and ferry traffic.

• Denmark: Minor shipping companies are lacking in money

    The minor Danish shipping companies are to be covered by a new general growth parcel for small- and medium sized companies, according to which, a growth guarantee is to make the banks willing to give loans to the companies. But the minor shipping companies aren’t pleased with the governments plan.

• Maersk faces billion kronor climate bill

    A.P. Moller-Maersk faces an extra annual bill of close to three billion kroner, if the Danish proposed climate tax model currently debated at the International Maritime Organization, is adopted

• Halliburton, Aker May Gain From Norway push for oil spending

    Halliburton Co., Aker Solutions ASA and other companies supplying the oil industry may be the ultimate winners in Norway’s push for producers to spend more to keep its aging offshore oilfields alive. The government is urging producers such as state-controlled Statoil ASA and ConocoPhillips to improve recovery rates from the

• Worth of shares of world reserves slipping in Q3-IMF

    The share of global foreign exchange reserves held in U.S. dollars declined in the third quarter of 2009 even as overall world reserves swelled to a record $7.5 trillion, International Monetary Fund data showed. The IMF data showed the dollar’s share of the roughly $4.4 trillion of world reserves of

• DNO seeks growth outside of Iraq s oil export Amid Dispute

    DNO International ASA, the first foreign company to pump oil in Iraq since the 1970s, may invest outside the war-torn country as the regional Kurdish authority and Baghdad officials argue over export payments. “It’s important for us to look for opportunities in other areas, to have a more diversified portfolio,”

• Qatar \ u0026 # 39; s Nakilat Q2 profit growth on the core business

     Qatar Gas Transport Co QGTS.QA (Nakilat), the world’s largest shipper of liquefied natural gas (LNG), saw profit rise almost three-fold in the second-quarter on revenues from its core shipping business. Net income in the three months to June rose to 179.29 million riyals ($49.26 million), up 252.2 percent from the

• Wilhelmsen Green is looking for projects

    The Orcelle Fund, a grant-awarding body created by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, is looking for innovative new maritime projects to support. The fund provides seed capital for projects developing alternative maritime energy sources and energy-efficient technology.

• World stainless steel output rising 12.54 percent in 3rd Quarter 2009

    According to the preliminary figures released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), global stainless crude steel production increased in the third quarter of 2009 by 17.19 percent compared to second quarter of this year to 7.064 million metric tons, while a year on year increase of 12.54 percent was

• STX Group Companies Rise After excluding Daewoo Bid

    STX Corp. and affiliate STX Pan Ocean Co