Norway’s colossal sovereign wealth fund – reportedly the world’s largest at $750 billion – is known as the ‘oil fund’ as it was created largely from the country’s prudent oil and gas resource revenue management. Less than 1% of the fund is currently invested in real estate, but that’s quickly changing. The fund managers are rebalancing their investments and just picked up a large portion of New York’s iconic Times Square as part of the effort. Remember the Dubai Ports World controversy? Clearly the security implications are not the same, but it will be interesting to see if this deal escapes similar protectionist sentiment. Also see Chinese state company CNOOC’s failed UNOCAL bid. [Wall Street Journal]

In a very strange report, Iran reportedly inked a natural gas supply deal with an un-named European country. The gas would be supplied via pipeline through Turkey, which imported 7.5 billion cubic meters of piped gas from Iran in 2012. Numerous questions remain as Turkish gas consumption increases and international sanctions limit Iran’s ability to export petroleum resources. [Fars News]

Energy economist Mike Lynch takes on Peak Oil, Paul Ehrlich and neo-Malthusian pessimists in his latest blog post. [Forbes]