Norwegian investors out of Western Sahara

Aftenposten, Norway
30 June 2005

By Gunnar Kagge

The small Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara has won a great
victory: the last Norwegian investor is now selling its stocks in the
petroleum company Kerr-McGee.

Only six months ago, three major Norwegian investors owned stocks in the
company, which is searching for oil outside the coast of Western Sahara.
During spring, Storebrand Insurance and the Norwegian Petroleum Fund
gave in to public pressure, and decided to sell. Recently, KLP Insurance
made the same decision.

Behind this pressure is the Norwegian Support Committee for Western
Sahara, with 21 paying members. A core of 10-12 activists have kept
going since 1993, built network and spread information. Western Sahara
is occupied by Morocco, and was recently in the news when the Norwegian
Broadcasting Company sent a documentary showing how the Norwegian
Embassy in Morocco assisted Norwegian companies in exploiting the
fishing resources.

Searching for oil
Primarily, it is the search for oil which concerns the Norwegian
activists. The last year, pressure has been exerted against the US
company Kerr-McGee, which is the last company still searching for oil
outside the occupied territory. By the beginning of the year, three
Norwegian investment funds held stocks in the company, the Petroleum
Fund, Storebrand Insurance and KLP Insurance.

Now all are leaving. The first week of June, the Norwegian Finance
Ministry sent out a press release stating that the Petroleum Fund should
sell its stocks. This put pressure on the others.

-We will sell out, but we do not know precisely when, Cornelia Moseid
says. She is Advisor for Ethics and Social Relations in KLP Insurance.
Moseid does not deny that the Petroleum Fund is important for assessing
investments.

Already in April, Storbrand Insurance decided to sell.

- We usually do not comment individual companies in our portfolio. But
concerning Kerr-McGee, I can confirm that we are completely out. The
reason is that we do not find that their corporate conduct is
acceptable, Information Director Egil Thompson states.

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Source: http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/okonomi/article1070814.ece
(Translation by Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara)
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Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara
wsahara2@...

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