Volvo was not “offered half of Norway’s oil”. But there was indeed a large collaboration in the works. Norway would trade cash and the rights to three unprospected regions of the North Sea to Volvo, and would get 40% of the shares of Volvo.

The deal was declined by the Volvo general assembly. Even if it had been approved by the assembly, it would also need to be approved by the Norwegian Parliament afterwards, and it’s not a hundred percent clear that would happen.

Here is one article on the matter. It is a bit confusing, because the main proponent for the deal (CEO of Volvo at the time) says the deal would have been worth $85 Billion. While the main opponent of the deal thinks Volvo made the right call because only one of the three regions had gas, and none of them had oil. Both sources are biased though, so it’s a bit hard to know how true these statements are.

https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-made-85-billion-mistake-2016-6?r=DE&IR=T

So it’s true there was a major deal in the works which would trade rights to natural resources for Volvo shares. But it was a much more technical deal than simply “half of the oil for half of Volvo”.

The ad is from the Israeli real estate company Harey Zahav. They posted this on their Instagram account. After criticism and backlash they claimed it was posted as a joke.

The Norwegian journalist collaborative fact checking service Faktisk.no has done a deep dive on this ad with a lot of detail if you want to check it out. You can read it using google translate (or similar tools) you are interested.

https://www.faktisk.no/artikler/jdplr/kraftige-reaksjoner-etter-spok-om-boligprosjekt-i-gaza

Some interesting facts from the article: the ad text says they are working to prepare for a return to Gush Katif, an earlier Israeli settlement in Gaza. The company is responsible for the development of settlements on the West Bank. The owner of the company lives in Moscow and seems to be an oligarch.

So based on the info in the linked in the article the ad is very real. And while the company behind it claims it was all a joke, that does seem a lot like damage control.