$100 Oil Long Gone Puts Norway Closer to Plundering Wealth Fund

With oil nowhere near levels that once made everything easy in Norway, the government may soon face the tough choice of tapping its $900 billion sovereign wealth fund or paring back spending from its shrinking petroleum income.

That’s the unwelcome mathematical truth of falling oil production and crude prices and a growing need to fill budget gaps. It comes as the custodians of the fund, set up to safeguard the wealth of future generations, warn that it also faces diminished returns ahead amid record-low interest rates.