Liberalisation of Norwegian petroleum policy: A result of interplay between international and national factors?

For more than 30 years oil has been extracted from the Norwegian continenta l shelf. Given the significant presence of foreign oil companies in the ear ly stages of oil extraction, the government's objectives in the 1970s were to gradually shift all petroleum-related activities to Norwegian companies. From 1986 onwards the policy again changed, and the discrimination of fore ign oil companies was gradually reduced. The article assesses to what exten t the following three factors can explain the latest change in concession p olicy: 1) the crude oil price drop in 1986 and the following unstable and l ow oil prices; 2) the internationalisation of the oil activity; and 3) the European Union's energy politics. Also discussed is whether factors at the national level increased the effect of the international factors and to wha t extent negotiation theories can be used to explain the policy change.