Abstract
Noreng, Ø. The International Petroleum Game and Norway's Dilemma. Cooperation and Conflict, XVII, 1982, 85-93. The first part of this article outlines trends in the world petroleum market, which is a 'political' and oligopolistic market. The international oil market with governments as oligopolists favours the politicization of the oil trade. The international gas market is more compartmentalized. In Western Europe the supply side is oligopolistic, whereas the demand side is a monopsony, a single buyer, a cartel of gas importers on the continent. The second part of the article deals with Norway's dilemma as a marginal supplier of oil and the world's third exporter in the international gas market. Norwegian petroleum policy has essentially been elaborated with domestic economic and social considerations in mind, with the foreign policy aspects being singularly absent. The conscious separation of petroleum policy and foreign policy appears to be a defence mechanism to avoid difficult dilemmas. It is probably the only way the current foreign policy can be combined with a petroleum policy that is acceptable to Norwegian interests.
Published Version
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