The return on the Petroleum Fund for the first three quarters as a whole was 4.2 per cent. Measured in NOK, the return was 4.7 per cent. The higher return in NOK is due to a depreciation of the krone against the currencies in the benchmark portfolio during the period. This has no effect, however, on developments in the Fund's international purchasing power.

The return on the Petroleum Fund's ordinary portfolio in the third quarter of 2004 was 0.02 percentage point lower than the return on the benchmark portfolio defined by the Ministry of Finance. The excess return for the first three quarters as a whole was 0.30 percentage point.

The return on the Environmental Fund in the third quarter was -1.6 per cent measured in terms of the benchmark portfolio's currency basket. In the first three quarters of 2004, total return was 4.0 per cent.

The market value of the Petroleum Fund's combined securities portfolio was NOK 988.1 billion at the end of the third quarter. This represents an increase of NOK 46 billion during the quarter and an increase of NOK 143 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 103 billion), partly to the return in capital markets (NOK 39 billion) and partly to the depreciation of the krone (NOK 1 billion).

For further information, please contact:
Knut N. Kjær, Executive Director, Norges Bank Investment Management, tel. +47 22 31 60 00.

The quarterly report is available on www.nbim.no.