UPDATE 1-Norway oil fund's Israel holdings under scrutiny

(Adds detail on review's remit)

By John Acher

OSLO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Norway's finance minister has ordered a review of investments by the country's $300 billion wealth fund in companies active in the Palestinian territories after Israel's crackdown in the Gaza Strip, officials said.

The Government Pension Fund -- Global, known familiarly as the "oil fund," invests Norway's oil wealth in foreign stocks and bonds to save for the future when the black gold runs out.

It invests under ethical guidelines from the ministry of finance and so far has excluded a few dozen companies that produce nuclear arms or cluster munitions, degrade the environment or violate human rights or worker rights.

Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen on Monday asked the fund's ethics council to assess whether companies in which the fund is invested and which operate in the Palestinian territories are in compliance with the guidelines.

"In light of the increased conflict level in the Palestinian areas, I will ask the Council on Ethics for an account of the council's work on matters related to companies that have operations in these areas," Halvorsen said in a statement. The ethical guidelines prohibit the fund from investing in companies where there is an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious or systematic abuses of human rights or serious violations of individuals' rights in war or conflict.

"Investment in companies that contribute to an occupation against international law or oppression in occupied areas could be affected by both of these considerations," Halvorsen said.

The finance ministry left it to the ethics council to decide which companies and how many to review, and did not limit the scope to Israeli companies, a spokeswoman said.