Breaking bonds: The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund’s stake in oil and gas debt

Reports

6 February 2025

The Norwegian Oil Fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is responsible for investing the revenues earned by the Norwegian state from oil and gas for the benefit of future generations. While claiming to be a leader in sustainability, the Norwegian Oil Fund’s asset manager, NBIM, has not made any systematic exclusion commitments regarding oil and gas companies and is a massive investor in oil and gas expansion, particularly through bonds.

This report focuses on the key role of NBIM in financing bonds issued by oil and gas developers and highlights the urgency of halting these new purchases.

Key findings:

  • NBIM has no systematic exclusion commitments regarding oil and gas companies.
  • It holds US$6.15 billion in bonds issued by 39 different oil and gas developers as of June 2024. Among the most financed companies, we found global majors such as TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, BP, and Eni –  all of which are still developing many new oil and gas projects and do not have credible climate plans in place for 2030.
  • This is not ancient history. The Norwegian Oil Fund has invested in at least 20 new bonds issued by oil and gas developers in the first half of 2024 – a year in which global temperatures increased by more than 1.5°C for the first time. In April 2024, for example, the fund invested US$30 million in at least one new bond from TotalEnergies.

Reclaim Finance and the Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance are urging NBIM to make new commitments restricting the purchase of new bonds from oil and gas developers. They also call on the fund to use its influence on the international stage to show the way forward in meeting the 1.5°C target.