Has Equinor made Norway dependent on oil?

In a controversial decision this week, the UK government approved development of a huge new oil and gas field in the North Sea. The Rosebank oil and gas field is majority owned by the Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor.

Following this news, Alasdair talked to Professor Jonas Fossli Gjersø (University of Stavanger) about the history of Equinor - previously Statoil - and the way it has shaped Norway's economy, history, and environmental policy.

Audio production by Vasko Kostovski. 

Further reading: 

• 'Britain approves huge, controversial oil and gas field in the North Sea', CNN, 27/9/23
• 'The Great Leap Offshore: Sino-Norwegian Relations and Petro-Knowledge Transfers, 1976–1997'  by Jonas Fossli Gjersø in Enterprise and Society, 2022
• Commerce and politics: Statoil and Equinor 1972-2001, Eivind Thomassen, 2022
• 'Norway wants to lead on climate change. But first it must face its legacy of oil and gas', Vox, 15/1/21
• 'A greener shade of black? Statoil, the Norwegian government and climate change, 1990—2005' by Ada Nissen in Scandinavian Journal of History, 2021
• Det svarte skiftet, Eivind Trædal, 2018 [Norweigan]
• 'A Short History of the Norwegian Oil Industry: From Protected National Champions to Internationally Competitive Multinationals' by Helge Ryggvik in Business History Review, 2015

Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.