Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil ASA (STO) said Monday it has no positions in government debt or banks in Southern Europe, but has moved its cash to government debt farther north and to highly rated and safer banks.
Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil ASA (STO) said Monday it has no
positions in government debt or banks in
Southern Europe
, but
has moved its cash to government debt farther north and to highly rated and
safer banks.
Statoil has "chosen a very conservative line" with its cash, said
Chief Financial Officer Torgrim Reitan in an interview with Dow Jones
Newswires. "We have a lot of cash," he said, and when you have that,
"it is very important where you place it."
Statoil has "no exposure to government debt or banks in
Southern
Europe
," Reitan said, adding Statoil has taken its cash
"significantly further north," placing its cash in Norwegian and
Danish government papers and banks with "high and safe credit
ratings."
Statoil has also placed its cash in papers with shorter maturity than
previously--typically one to two months--to increase its liquidity, Reitan
said.
"This is all about being prepared," Reitan said, adding it is
important "to have a lot of cash available if things really should go
boom."
Reitan's comments follow last week's rating downgrades that hit
France
and
eight other euro-zone nations, casting fresh doubts over the monetary union's
ability to bail itself out of financial crisis and rescue its most vulnerable
member,
Greece
.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Friday said it had stripped triple-A
ratings from
France
and
Austria
and
downgraded seven others, including
Spain
,
Italy
and
Portugal
. It
retained the triple-A rating on
Europe
's No.
1 economy,
Germany
.
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