The Norwegian Central Bank (Norges Bank), which manages the country's US$1tn worth sovereign wealth fund (Government Pension Fund Global or GPFG), has recommended to remove oil and gas companies' stocks from the sovereign fund's benchmark index, in order to make the country less vulnerable to a permanent drop in oil and gas prices.
However, the bank did not set a deadline for when GPFG should drop its oil and gas holdings. The oil and gas stocks currently account for NKR300bn (US$37bn) or 6% of the fund's benchmark equity index. At the end of 2016, the fund's largest oil and gas holding was in Shell (US$5.36bn), followed by ExxonMobil (US$3.06bn), Chevron (US$2.04bn), BP (US$2.02bn) and Total (US$2.01bn). It also holds significant shares in Eni and Schlumberger.
The Norwegian Finance Ministry will announce its own views on the bank’s recommendation by autumn 2018.
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