Never had the oil fund lost so much money in a year since its creation in the late 1990s, acknowledged its management.

"2022, for sure, was a year for the history books," commented the director of the fund managed by the Norwegian central bank, Nicolai Tangen, during a press conference.

Markets have been hurt by war in Europe, high inflation and rising interest rates, he said.

The fund into which the Nordic country - the largest hydrocarbon producer in Western Europe - pays its oil revenues ended the year with a negative return of 14.1%, corresponding to losses of 1.637 billion crowns (151 billion euros).

An unequaled loss in value, but which does not erase 2008 and the global financial crisis, the year of its worst performance in percentage terms (-23.3%).

As of December 31, its total value remained at a colossal amount of 12.429 billion crowns, or nearly 1.150 billion euros.

Or a mattress of 2.3 million crowns (210,000 euros), for each of the 5.4 million Norwegians.

These heavy losses were expected, after already three bad first quarters, reflecting the deterioration of the financial markets last year.

The global situation had "a negative impact on both the equity market and the bond market, which is very unusual", underlined the Bank of Norway.

Withdrawal from Russia

Around 69.8% of the fund's value is in equities, 27.5% in bonds and 2.7% in real estate.

"All sectors of the equity market had negative returns, with the exception of energy", specifies the management of the fund.

The Norwegian oil fund is one of the largest investors in the world with shares in nearly 9,400 companies in around 70 countries, including big names in technology such as Apple, Microsoft and even Alphabet, the parent company of Google.

On its own, it weighs more than 1% of the world's market capitalization.

A weight that allows him to be an influential shareholder in many multinationals.

The losses of 2022 mark a reversal of the trend: in 2021, the fund had earned 1,580 billion crowns, and 1,070 billion in 2020, boosted by the influx of liquidity.

The total value of the fund, however, remains slightly above its level at the end of 2021 (12.340 billion crowns), due to the inflow of new money and the depreciation of the Norwegian currency on the foreign exchange market.

With the high oil and gas prices caused by the invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia and its huge production of hydrocarbons, Norway saw its oil and gas inputs soar last year.

Nearly 1,085 billion crowns, or about 100 billion euros, were injected last year, according to the Bank of Norway.

The sovereign wealth fund had decided in March to write off its Russian investments, estimated at 2.7 billion euros before the war, considering them "lost".

Overall, equities posted a performance of -15.3%, while bonds also suffered almost as much (-12.1%).

Only real estate (+0.1%) and the still marginal fourth class of renewable energy infrastructure (+5.1%) resisted.

© 2023 AFP