Sunday, 19th January, 2025
Sunday, 19th January, 2025

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund scrutinizes its oil holdings

Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund will take a critique of its stake in national oil companies as its policy-council expands its investigation into corruption in its latest guidelines.

The world’s largest Oslo-based fund has already withdrawn from areas such as tobacco, arms, coal and palm oil following the council’s recommendations. Investors dropped Petrochina Co. for overall corruption in a council recommendation last year, although the advice focuses primarily on human rights abuses and excess emissions.

The council’s latest list proposes a more comprehensive approach to moving forward. According to a Bloomberg-based council business plan, “If complaints are made against many companies in a particular sector, the Council of Policy often reviews the whole sector thoroughly and the organizations that are the subject of the most serious complaints.” According to the news. “There are a lot of corruption cases related to the national oil companies, this is a field that the Ethics Council will look at in 2021.”

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund returned $123 billion to its investments last year. Its biggest gain came from technology stocks, while it saw a decline in money invested in the United States and oil. The fund revealed in an interview last month that its portfolio of oil exploration and production companies, which was valued at about $6 billion in 2019, was sold.