The return on the Petroleum Fund for the first three quarters as a whole was 7.7 per cent. Measured in NOK, the return was 16.2 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 third quarter of 2003 was 0.15 percentage point higher than the return on the benchmark portfolio that has been defined by the Ministry of Finance. The excess return for the first three quarters as a whole was 0.49 percentage point.

The return on the Environmental Fund in the third quarter was 5.0 per cent measured in terms of the benchmark portfolio's currency basket.

During the quarter, new capital equivalent to NOK 21.9 billion was transferred to the Petroleum Fund's international equity and fixed income portfolios. The market value of the combined securities portfolio rose to NOK 803.3 billion at the end of the third quarter, representing an increase of NOK 28 billion in the course of the quarter and an increase of NOK 194 billion since the beginning of the year. The increase since the beginning of the year is due partly to the transfer of new capital (NOK 88 billion), partly to the return in capital markets (NOK 54 billion) and partly to the depreciation of the krone (NOK 52 billion).

The quarterly report in Norwegian and a summary in English are available on www.nbim.no.