The Norwegian state’s most hands-on oilfield entity has posted record earnings of 160 billion kroner ($22.4 billion) for 2008, or 47 billion kroner ($6.6 billion) more than the prior year after 12 months that saw record oil prices.

Nearly all the money earned went straight into the Norwegian country’s accounts. The State’s Direct Financial Interest — which, as Petoro, shares oilfield stakes with national champion StatoilHydro and other oil companies — will see most of the winnings spirited off for investment by the country’s sovereign-wealth “Pension Fund” or spent in the national budget.

The SDFI ,or Petoro, result came on revenues of 214.6 billion kroner ($30 billion), about 28 percent more than 2007 proffered.

In fourth-quarter 2008, Petoro saw a result of 45.7 billion kroner, up nearly 50 percent year-on-year.

The stately entity’s quarterly result was buoyed by new flows of gas at Snoehvit in the near-arctic and Ormen Lange in the North Sea. The “Cold War” Troll field — vaunted for its ability to pump gas into Europe and ward off dependency on “Soviet” gas — still accounted for 40 percent of total gas revenues.

Importantly, Petoro leadership said it saw 400 billion (about $60 billion) in “profitable” projects offshore Norway in the next decade, and the state share will pay a quarter of the bill.

Tags: Petoro