The return on the Petroleum Fund in the first half of the year was 5.9 per cent. Measured in NOK, the return was 15.3 per cent. The high return in NOK is due to the krone's depreciation against the currencies in the benchmark portfolio. This has no effect, however, on developments in the international purchasing power of the Fund.

The return on the Petroleum Fund's ordinary portfolio in the second quarter of 2003 was 0.07 percentage point higher than the return on the benchmark portfolio defined by the Ministry of Finance. The excess return for the first half of the year was 0.31 percentage point.

The second quarter return on the Environmental Fund was 15.3 per cent measured in terms of the benchmark portfolio's currency basket.

During the quarter, capital equivalent to NOK 23.1 billion was transferred to the Petroleum Fund's international equity and fixed income portfolios, bringing the market value of the combined securities portfolio to NOK 775.5 billion at the end of the second quarter. This is an increase of NOK 93 billion in the course of the quarter and an increase of NOK 166 billion since the beginning of the year. The increase is due partly to the allocation of new capital, partly to the return in capital markets and partly to the depreciation of the krone.