The Treasury has calculated that the UK could have built a sovereign wealth fund worth approximately £1 trillion if it had invested North Sea oil revenues as Norway did.
01Summary
- 01Chancellor John Healey announced the Energy Wealth Fund on Wednesday, with £2bn from the National Wealth Fund.
- 02Internal Treasury modelling assumes £200bn in historical North Sea receipts invested with no withdrawals, growing at Norway's rate.
- 03Norway's sovereign wealth fund is now worth $2.4tn, built from the same North Sea revenues.
- 04The UK's national debt reached £3tn for the first time in the same week as the announcement.
- 05The new Energy Wealth Fund will invest domestically in green energy, unlike Norway's fund which invests abroad.
02Why it matters
It highlights a critical fiscal decision that could have significantly reduced the UK's current national debt and provided a long-term asset for future generations.
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