OSLO: Norway’s US$1 trillion sovereign wealth fund proposed dumping about US$35bil in oil and gas stocks, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp, to protect the economy of western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer. The nation would be “less vulnerable” to a drop in oil by not being invested in stocks of companies in the industry, the Oslo-based fund said. “We can do that better by not adding oil price risk through the fund.”The advice constitutes the next major step in scrubbing the world’s biggest wealth fund of climate risk after it largely sold out of coal stocks. Norway depends on the oil and gas industry for about 20% of its economic output. Yesterday’s recommendation came at a “good time because the stock portion will now be increased to 70% and that would also mean that we would buy more oil and gas stocks,” Matsen said.

Source: The Star November 16, 2017 23:48 UTC