season. as a consequence of the steep run - up in prices, demand for gasoline eased, and an accompanying increase in inventories helped to reverse the bulge that had occurred in refinery and marketing margins. that reduction in margins resulted in a decline in the price of regular gasoline of about 20 cents per gallon despite the concurrent sharp rise in the price of crude oil. with margins having returned to more - typical levels, prices of both gasoline and home heating oil are likely to reflect changes in crude oil prices more directly. * * * evaluating the impact of rising oil prices on economic activity in the united states has long been a subject of dispute among economists. most macroeconomic models treat an increase in oil prices as a tax on u. s. residents that saps the purchasing power of households and raises costs for businesses. but economists disagree about the size of the effects, in part because of differences in the key assumptions employed in the statistical models that underlie the analyses. moreover, the models are typically based on average historical experience, which is dominated by periods of only moderate fluctuations in oil prices and thus may not adequately capture the adverse effects on the economy of oil price spikes. in addition to the difficulties of measuring the impact of oil prices on economic growth, the oil price outlook itself is uncertain. growing concerns about the long - term security of oil production in the middle east, along with heightened worries about the reliability of supply from other oil - producing regions, led to a pronounced increase in the demand to hold inventory at a time when the level of world commercial oil stocks was rising only modestly. some of that increased demand came from investors and speculators who took on larger net long positions in crude oil futures, especially in distantly dated contracts. crude oil prices accordingly rose sharply, which, in turn, brought forth increased production from opec and induced some investors to take profits on long inventory positions. the resulting reduction in the speculative demand for inventories has, at least temporarily, reduced pressures in these markets, and crude prices have come off from their highs of mid - august. nevertheless, the outlook for oil prices remains uncertain. higher prices have damped the consumption of oil - for example, u. s. gasoline consumption, seasonally adjusted, fell about 200, 000 barrels a day between april and july. but the growing concerns about long - term supply, along with large prospective increases in demand from the rapidly growing economies of china and india, both of which are expanding in ways that are relatively energy

and temasek share many common views of swf best practices and serve as thought and practice leaders in the area of swf investments. 6. i am pleased to note that the iwg has since advocated a meaningful and credible set of principles in the form of the generally accepted principles and practices or gapp, for short. these principles serve to underpin the strategic investments of the swf community. this is an important development because swfs have become a significant investor group. according to the iwg, since 2005, at least 17 funds were created. there are now 38 swfs. last year, swfs collectively managed over us $ 3 trillion of assets. over the next three years, this pool is expected to grow to us $ 7 trillion. 7. with such vast investment capacity, swfs will play increasingly important roles in the international financial system. john lipsky of the imf noted that in the recent crisis, swfs have been a positive and stabilizing force in providing capital to economies. closing 8. the opening of nbim ’ s singapore office represents the start of a new chapter to the strong friendship and good relations between singapore and norway and to even closer cooperation between our investment agencies. 9. the singapore office will certainly place nbim in the heart of asia ; bringing nbim closer to developments within the asian markets and in the assessment of investment opportunities in the region. 10. congratulations on your office opening! have an enjoyable evening ahead!