OSLO: Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, plans to more than double its investments in Saudi Arabia after it is included in the fund's reference index soon, Chief Executive Yngve Slyngstad said on Friday.
The fund currently has Saudi Arabian assets worth 6.9 billion crowns ($825 million), spread over 42 companies including banks, petrochemicals and healthcare firms.
The fund's reference index, the FTSE, will include Saudi Arabia in the coming year.
"We invest in companies, not countries. Our investments in companies based in Saudi Arabia will not be changed based on political developments," Slyngstad told Reuters.
"Generally speaking, we are not set up to assess political risk."
Earlier, the $970 billion fund said it would ask the 9,000 companies in which it invests to ensure their board members had sufficient expertise, time and independence.
The fund, which funnels Norway's revenues from oil and gas production, owns 1.4 percent of all globally listed shares. It has in recent years become a more active shareholder as it has grown in heft.
While some of the demands put forward on Friday are not new for the fund - such as opposing CEOs who sit as chairs of their companies - others are, such as requiring industry expertise from directors.
A majority of independent board members should have "fundamental industry insight" and at least two of the independent members should have worked in the company's industry, said the fund.
"It is really ... industry expertise which is an issue that has been under-communicated from investors," said Slyngstad. "The strong desire to have a profitable company by having a board who knows the business."
He declined to name specific sectors where he thought board industry expertise was lacking, but said: "There has been a focus on the financial sector, also from regulators, which we will reinforce from our point of view.
"But this is a broader issue than just the financial sector," he added. "We have seen quite differing practice in different sectors and different countries.
"This is a signal that ... we will try to look at these issues more quantitatively, to see where we can find the major issues with regards to countries and sectors."
The position papers will form the basis of the fund's position for how it votes on the boards of companies.
"It will be a starting point for how we will vote," Chief Corporate Governance Officer Carine Smith Ihenacho told reporters earlier.
Asked whether the fund would divest from reluctant companies, on these issues, she said: "It will be a basis for voting, dialogue and engagement."
Directors should also ensure they have enough time to fulfil their obligations to the boards on which they serve, said the fund.
In practice, that means board members of listed companies should not serve on more than five boards at one time and the chair of a leading company should generally not chair the board of another company, it said.
In the third quarter, the fund made a return of 2.1 percent, helped by rising North American stocks. It still returned 0.2 percentage points less than the a benchmark index set by the Norwegian Finance Ministry.
"The market development was affected by expectations of differing economic growth and uncertainty about the effects of increased trade barriers," Slyngstad said.
Norway fund plans to more than double investments in Saudi Arabia
Norway fund plans to more than double investments in Saudi Arabia
- Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, plans to more than double its investments in Saudi Arabia
- The fund currently has Saudi Arabian assets worth $825 million
US pump prices surge as Iran war upends global energy supply
- Fuel prices jump over 10 percent as oil prices surge
- Analysts predict further price rises due to market conditions
MARIETTA/NEW YORK : US retail gasoline and diesel prices are soaring as the US-Israel war with Iran constrains oil and fuel exports, which could be a political test for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of midterm elections in November.
Fuel prices jumped more than 10 percent this week as oil rose above $90 a barrel, its highest in years, adding pain at the pump for consumers already strained by inflation.
Trump on Thursday shrugged off higher gasoline prices in an interview with Reuters, saying “if they rise, they rise.”
The president had vowed to lower energy prices and unleash US oil and gas drilling during his second term, but much of his tenure has been marked by volatility and uncertainty amid shifts in policies like tariffs and geopolitical turmoil.
The US is the world’s largest oil producer. It is a major exporter but also imports millions of barrels a day since it is the world’s largest oil consumer.
As of Friday, the national average prices for regular gasoline stood at $3.32 a gallon, up 11 percent from a week ago and the highest since September 2024, according to data from the motorists association AAA. Diesel was at $4.33, up 15 percent from a week ago, surging to the highest since November 2023.
Midwest, south feel the pinch
US motorists in parts of the Midwest and the South, including states that supported Trump, have seen some of the steepest increases in fuel costs since the conflict in Iran started.
In Georgia, a swing state, average retail gasoline prices rose 40.1 cents a gallon over the past week, according to fuel tracking site GasBuddy.
Andrenna McDaniel, a health care insurance worker in South Fulton, Georgia, said she was surprised to see prices skyrocket overnight.
“They jumped up so quickly,” she said on Friday, adding that she does not agree with the war at all.
McDaniel, a Democrat, said that for now she is only driving for the most important things, and feels lucky that she works from home so she does not have to drive as much as other people do. Georgia voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Trump voter Richard Soule, 69, a US Air Force veteran and a retired firefighter, said a little pain at the pump is worth Trump’s efforts to protect America.
“When President Trump went in there and bombed out their nuclear, and they just thumbed their nose at it, I believe he did the right thing at the right time,” Soule said on Friday as he filled up his Ford F-150 truck in Marietta, Georgia.
Other states, including Indiana and West Virginia have seen prices rise by 44.3 cents and 43.9 cents, respectively.
Prices may rise further
More pain may be on the way, analysts said, as oil prices continue to trend upward. On Friday, US oil futures settled at $90.90 a barrel, up nearly $10 and the biggest single-day rise since April 2020.
“Given current market conditions, the national average price of gasoline could climb toward $3.50 to $3.70 per gallon in the coming days if oil continues rising and supply disruptions persist,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said.
The disruptions in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade conduit, have boosted demand for US oil abroad, which in turn has driven up prices for domestic refiners too.
“The US has weaned itself off of its dependence on Middle Eastern crude, but obviously Asian refineries, and to a lesser extent, European refineries have not,” Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst with OPIS. “That’s what you’re seeing happen in the spot market, because the demand for US exports rise, and so the price rise.”
Seasonal factors could add further pressure. Gasoline prices typically go up in the spring and peak in the summer due to higher gasoline demand and production of summer-blend gasoline, which is more costly to produce. Diesel fuel saw an even more aggressive jump since Iran began retaliating against US and Israeli strikes, significantly disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Global diesel inventories have remained in tight supply due to heavy demand for heating and power generation during a prolonged winter in the US and other parts of the world and a structural tightness of refining capacity. Sticker prices of everything from food to furniture go up when the cost of diesel goes up, as the fuel is mainly used in freight transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and global shipping, analysts said.
“In a world where buzzword seems to be ‘affordability’, that is certainly not going to help,” Cinquegrana said.
