In this June 8 2006 file photo, The Troll, a gas platform run by the Norwegian oil giant Statoil company, stands above the North Sea, about 70 kilometers off the coast of Norway. Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund will begin dumping its shares in oil and gas companies, paving the way for a huge divestment in the likes of Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, Minister of Finance Siv Jensen said Friday March 8, 2019. (Marit Hommedal / Scanpix via AP)Norway's $1 trillion wealth fund will begin dumping its shares in oil and gas companies, but stopped short of expelling major producers like Total and Chevron.
The Norwegian fund, the biggest of its kind in the world, derives its income from the country's own oil and gas industry. It has significant stakes in several oil companies, with some $6 billion tied up in Royal Dutch Shell alone.
But the divestment will focus on companies which trade solely in exploration and production like Marathon and Chesapeake Energy rather than the integrated oil giants.
Minister of Finance Siv Jensen said Friday in a statement that the move is meant to "reduce the vulnerability of our common wealth to permanent oil price decline."
The nation of 5.3 million people derives much of its wealth from the fossil fuels industry, which accounts for some 20 percent of Norwegian GDP.