All posts by webikon

Norway’s Smaller Pension Fund Also Impresses

Norway’s massive wealth funds are easy to mix up. But both are booming and giving 5 million Norwegian citizens a healthy dollop of security for decades to come.

The oil fund – also known as Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global — is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund that invests money globally, and its $840 billion is available for unspecified needs of future generations. Last week, the fund said it returned 16% for 2013, the second best performance since its founding in 1996.

Norway’s smaller pension fund, meanwhile, is a NOK167.8 billion ($28 billion) pool of assets that is also tucked away for future generations. Its name – the Government Pension Fund Norway – is easily confused with its bigger brother. But while the government can spend up to 4% of the GPFG to boost its annual budgets, the GFPN doesn’t contribute anything to government spending.

The smaller fund has a more narrow mandate than the oil fund (which invests in real estate, equities in dozens of countries and a large swath of fixed income.) It invests mostly in Norwegian equities and bonds and some of its additional capital in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

It turned out to be a winning strategy in 2013, leading to NOK22.6 billion in returns, or 15.7%. Unlike the oil fund – with fixed income returns essentially flat last year, the smaller pension fund had a 3.1% return on its bond portfolio. So, while Nordic equities weren’t as strong as those in the U.S. and some emerging markets, Nordic fixed income helped make up for almost all of the relative weakness.

The fund now owns 4.9% of the equities listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and 2.6% of the Norwegian bond market. It said it was prepared for periods of lower returns amid increasing uncertainty in Norway, as the booming activity in the country’s oil sector was expected to flatten in the coming years.

The fund underlined its stabilizing effects on markets: During the financial crisis, it purchased shares while others were selling.

The fund added 13 companies to its portfolio in 2013 and held stocks in 151 companies at the end of the year. Its biggest stakes included NOK16.03 billion in Statoil, NOK11.32 billion in Telenor, NOK10.88 billion in DNB and NOK4.7 billion in Yara International.

Its biggest bond holdings included NOK11.29 billion in Norwegian government bonds, NOK3.19 billion in DNB Boligkreditt, NOK2.48 billion in Nordea Eiendomskreditt and NOK2.08 billion in Statoil.

The fund’s average annual returns were 7.8% in the 2004 to 2013 period.

International Visitors Break US Tourism Record

International visitors spent $180.7 billion on U.S. travel and tourism–related goods and services in 2013, an increase of more than 9 percent from the record set in 2012.

100 Million Visitors by 2021
The United States’ National Travel and Tourism Strategy, which President Obama launched in 2012, charted a new course toward making America a more attractive and accessible destination than ever before. The strategy sets a goal of drawing 100 million international visitors by 2021.

Shorter Visa Processing Times
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzke noted a presidential executive order that has led to new visa positions and expanded visa processing facilities around the world, with the result that 94 percent of nonimmigrant visa applicants worldwide are interviewed within three weeks.

More than 2 million people now have access to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Trusted Traveler Programs — which provide expedited travel for pre-approved, low-risk travelers through dedicated lanes and kiosks — up 60 percent from December 2012, she said. And more than 30 million visitors received Transportation Security Administration “PreCheck” expedited screening as of the end of 2013.

Working to Improve Entry Procedures
But Pritzker also acknowledged that the rise in international travelers has sometimes resulted in bottlenecks at borders, long wait times and customer service challenges at ports of entry.

The U.S. Travel and Tourism Board, she said, recommended that “we must make continued progress on travel facilitation, including sustaining the progress on visa issuance and continuing to improve the entry experience.”

To learn more about U.S. efforts to support the travel and tourism industry, as well as to view additional industry-related statistics, visit the travel and tourism page of the International Trade Administration.

Record Year for US Exports

Four years ago, President Obama made export promotion a national priority, launching the National Export Initiative to renew and revitalize American exports.

That initiative is working.

Today, the Department of Commerce announced that for the fourth year in a row, the United States has set a record for annual exports. Total U.S. exports for 2013 reached $2.3 trillion.

There were record highs in both goods and services exports. Goods exports totaled $1.58 trillion, with records in a number of important sectors, including industrial supplies, consumer goods, and capital goods.

Service exports hit an all-time high of $682 billion, with records in several major service sectors. Travel and tourism was one record sector, as international visitors contributed $139.6 billion to the American economy.

Mexico was a particularly bright spot for U.S. exporters, as we saw a 4.7 percent increase to $226 billion in exports to our southern neighbor. Commerce Secretary Pritzker is currently leading a business development mission in Mexico, helping even more American companies find new opportunities and qualified business partners in one of our most important export markets.

More important than the numbers we released today, though, is what lies behind them.

More and more businesses are exporting, which is leading to growth and innovation.  More and more jobs are supported by exports – nearly 10 million jobs according to the latest data. That’s an increase of 1.3 million jobs since President Obama launched the National Export Initiative in 2010.

We are looking forward to American companies finding new success in the global marketplace in 2014 – expanding to new markets and reaching more customers. This time next year, we want to announce a fifth U.S. export record, more jobs supported by trade, and continued economic recovery here at home.

You can read Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s statement on the data here.

Siemens CEO: Shale Gas is Reindustrializing the US

“When it comes to energy, we are seeing a tectonic shift all around the world,” Kaeser said. “This tectonic shift has two sides—one is on the good side and the other one is on the bad side.” He warned that the “global economy is really dependent on the energy agenda of this world, and that this global economy can change at any time if you don’t get that energy agenda right in certain economies of the world.”

Kaeser noted that countries around the world are currently grappling with issues surrounding energy availability, affordability and sustainability. He went on to say that in this regard, in recent years, it’s clear that “no country has found greater opportunity” than the U.S. “The U.S. will most likely become the world’s largest oil and gas producer this year. That’s affordability, availability, and sustainability all in one. And it’s a milestone with potentially far-reaching geopolitical implications for large regions.”

“Today in Europe, it is all about going west. The United States is once again, and has always been in my view, the place to be,” he said, noting that more global companies are moving to the U.S.

“I don’t have to tell any of you in this room how significantly natural gas, and in particular, the shale gas opportunity in the United States, is reshaping the global economy,” he commented.

Kaeser reminded delegates that it was only a few years since the expense of natural gas was driving chemical companies away from the U.S., but now the situation could not be more different. He said they would now be “flat out crazy” not to be in the U.S.

He added, “I think it’s fair to say that the development of horizontal drilling may have been the biggest shift of balance in the global economy since China joined the WTO.”

However, Kaeser also cautioned that the U.S. still has “a lot of questions to answer.”  He cited current debates on the export of LNG and the transport of energy around the nation.

US Energy Secretary: Oil Industry Hasn’t Made Case for Exports

“I don’t think the industry has done a very good job of clearly and concisely stating the case,” Moniz said at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston.

U.S. energy policies stemming from the 1973 Arab oil embargo severely restrict crude exports while applying no such limits to products that are processed in refineries. U.S. refiners are exporting record amounts of gasoline while producers contend with depressed oil prices. The U.S. is estimated to have surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia last year as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Oil companies from Chevron Corp. to Total SA have lobbied in speeches this week in Houston for an end to export limits. A failure to do so will slow the growth in crude output, Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, said March 3.

New drilling techniques including directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing in shale formations such as the Eagle Ford and the Bakken in North Dakota helped U.S. oil production grow by a record 1.136 MMbopd last year to 8.121 MMbopd at year-end, according to the EIA. U.S. oil cost an average of $9/bbl less than European crude last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The department has received a total of 35 applications from companies seeking to export natural gas and capture prices in Asia that are five times higher than domestic rates. The approvals so far would allow shipments of more than 9 billion cubic feet of gas, according to the department.

Five of six proposals to export natural gas that the Energy Department has tentatively approved are under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Moniz said. One other project has received a license.

North America Agreement between Agrinos and Windcrofte Holdings/Ameropa

Lysaker, Norway/Dallas, U.S., Feb. 24, 2014. Agrinos AS (Norwegian OTC: AGRI), an international biological crop input provider, along with its wholly-owned subsidiary in North America, Agrinos Inc., and Windcrofte Holdings, LLC and its partner, Ameropa North America, have entered into a multi-year Distribution, License and Research Agreement for the sales and marketing of Agrinos High Yield Technology® (HYT®) products in North America, and for the development of next generation yield enhancement technologies based on the Agrinos and Windcrofte Holdings product development platforms.

Næringslivet i Telemark håper å utvikle det økonomiske samarbeidet med Midt-Vest-statene i USA

Mye olje

I vår skal to næringslivsdelegasjoner fra Telemark besøke USA. Den ene deltar på business-seminar i Minneapolis, og den andre på oljemessa i Bismarck i Nord-Dakota.

Prosjektleder for næring i Telemark fylkeskommune, Thrond Kjellevold, sier de sender bredt sammensatte delegasjoner.

– Det er IKT-Grenland, Green business på miljø og energi og utvikling, Helsenettverk Telemark og Telemark Offshore som skal være med til USA i mai, forteller han.

Statoil hevder på nett at det skal være mer olje i Nord-Dakota enn i noen annen stat i USA. 

Høgskolen i Telemark har i dag seks partneravtaler i Midtvesten.

Sammen med bedriften Tel-Tek fikk Høyskolen nylig 16 millioner prosjekt-kroner for å se på oljeboring.

På et næringslivsbesøk i USA sist høst deltok administrerende direktør i ØPD på Stathelle, Nils Johan Tufte.

– Vi kan selge tjenester

Det er klondykestemning i Nord-Dakota nå, og Tufte mener Telemark må kjenne sin besøkelsestid, også i tida som kommer.

– Jeg mener det er gode muligheter for å eksportere norsk kompetanse i form av utførelse og teknologi. Vi ser også at det er fylkesmessig store ringvirkninger på dette med utdanning, sier Tufte.

– Hva kan det bety for norske arbeidsplasser?

– Det er mye som skjer der, og det kan skape økt aktivitet hos arbeidsplassene. De har et kapasitetsproblem i dag, og vi kan selge dem tjenester som vi har god erfaring med i Telemark.

– Hva bør gjøres videre nå?

– Det er etablert en solid relasjon mellom Telemark og Midtvesten. Det som blir viktig fremover er lokal tilstedeværelse og at vi har en representant til stede der.

– Er det penger nok til dette?

– Det er ikke nok penger i dag. Skal det skje noe, må nok Staten på banen, sier han.

Educational Exchange Opportunity for Norwegian High School Students in the USA

The final application due date is March 1st and it is a rolling application for the school year starting in August 2014.

 

YFU is a non-profit, volunteer youth exchange organization with YFU partner organizations in more than 60 countries. Our vision is Safe exchange for a more peaceful world. 

 

For additional information and online application, please visit the YFU website.

Norway’s $833 Billion Fund Eyes Riskier Bets

Then they got an email from their boss. Under no circumstances were they to be seen drinking champagne in the VIP tribune at the Monaco Grand Prix.

“We have high expectations in terms of ethical standards, also for ourselves,” says Yngve Slyngstad, the head of the fund, which invests $163,000 of oil and gas wealth for each man, woman and child in Norway. “We cannot behave in a way that makes people doubt that we have their best interests at heart,” he told Reuters last August. “Our duty as an asset manager is to manage the people’s money, public money. This means there is a particular responsibility on us.”

Norway has a population slightly larger than the state of South Carolina but its government-run wealth fund has $833 billion in assets, making it one of the largest investors in the world. It owns 1.25 percent of all the shares worldwide, 2.5 percent in Europe, and it has a unique ethical mandate. That sees it avoid companies such as Walmart, which Norway deemed to have breached “human rights and labor rights.”

Oil Firms Keen to Explore Off Norway Despite Higher Costs

Norway awarded a record 65 oil and gas production licences in a mature area licensing round on Tuesday and attracted high interest from oil firms in exploring its Arctic, despite an oil tax hike and increased industry costs.

A record 48 companies were awarded stakes to explore in mature areas – licences that are already opened for exploration – and 40 oil firms expressed interest in exploring in Norway’s Barents and Norwegian Seas as part of the Nordic country’s 23rd licensing round for new areas.

Norwegian authorities hope the interest will prolong production, after the world’s seventh-biggest crude oil exporter saw its oil output fall to a 25-year low in 2013.

“Exploring in new and mature areas is the key to creating value for the industry,” Norway’s oil and energy minister Tord Lien told an audience of oil and gas executives.

The licensing rounds were the first after the previous centre-left government, which left power in October, introduced an oil tax hike opposed by oil and gas companies.