Norway’s trillion-dollar wealth fund sold the last of its investments in fossil fuel companies

Norway’s trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund has sold the last of its portfolio of oil and gas companies in a major step away from the country’s reliance on its petroleum industry. Trond Grande, deputy CEO of the fund, made the announcement of the final sale, which occurred at the end of last year, in a phone call on Thursday . The decision to nix the fund’s portfolio of oil and gas companies, worth $6 billion, was an economic one. In 2020, the fund reported losses of $10 billion in oil and gas shares that were worth $40 billion at the start of the year. Back in 2017, the central bank of Norway said the government should drop oil and gas investments to protect the wealth fund — the world’s largest — from the price volatility. It looks as though it is finally acting on that advice. (The fund had a decent year overall, earning more than $120 million despite the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.) Norway’s sovereign wealth fund was created in 1990 to keep the economic benefits of its lucrative oil and gas industry within the country. The fund gains revenue from taxes on Norway’s petroleum industry and […]

Click here to view original web page at Norway’s trillion-dollar wealth fund sold the last of its investments in fossil fuel companies