Book Review : T. Lind and G. A. Mackay: Norwegian Oil Policies. C. Hurst & Company, London 1980. 150 pp
| Author | Ove Narvesen |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083678001500406 |
| Published date | 01 November 1980 |
| Date | 01 November 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Book
Review
OVE
NARVESEN
T.
Lind
and
G.
A.
Mackay:
Norwegian
Oil
Policies.
C.
Hurst
&
Company,
London
1980.
150
pp.
The
analysis
in
this
book
is
based
upon
what
the
authors
have
indentified
as
the
most
important
aspects
of
Norwegian
oil
policies:
licencing
policy,
depletion
policy,
taxation
policy,
the
use
of
revenues
and
the
activities
of
Statoil
(the
Norwegian
State
oil
company).
This
focus
on
economical
and
technical
as-
pects
is
probably
partly
due
to
the
fact
that
the
sources
of
the
book
are
mainly
official
docu-
ments
in
which
these
particular
aspects
dominate
completely.
This
in
fact
could
be
formulated
as
a
general
criticism
of
the
book:
it
is
too
heavily
dependent
on
the
premises
for
problem
definition
as
pre-
sented
in
the
official
documents
on
Norwegian
oil
policies.
As
a
result
there
is
a
rather
unilateral
selection
of
problem
areas
and
rather
one-sided
argumentation
at
certain
points.
In
other
words,
the
book
does
not
give
a
fair
representation
of
the
non-official
argumentation
that
has
nevertheless
had
an
important
impact
on
official
thinking
and
policies
during
the
last
few
years.
It
is
a
gross
simplification
when
the
au-
thors
contend
that
there
has
been
a
’considerable
degree
of
unanimity
among
the
population
as
a
whole ...’
(p.
140).
It
may
be
more
correct
to
argue
that
there
was
little
public
debate
on
oil
policies
in
Norway
during
the
early
years
of
the
oil
era,
but
this
was
mainly
due
to
the
fact
that
the
technical
and
economical
expertise
was
al-
lowed
to
forrnulate
the
basic
premises.
Thus
the
environmental
and
social
problems,
to
which
the
public
in
general
is
committed,
were
only
to
a
rather
limited
extent
on
the
agenda
of
the
policy-
makers.
In
this
book
we
find
some
of
the
same
tendency.
Questions
concerning
environmental
hazards
and
contingency
policy,
for
instance,
occupy
only
two
or
three
pages.
An
important
part
of
the
book
is
the
discussion
on
the
extent
to
which
the
Norwegian
authorities
can
keep
the
rate
of
extraction
under
control.
The
following
factors
may,
according
to
the
authors,
potentially
force
us
into
a
faster
rate
of
extraction:
the
high
level
of
borrowing,
pressure
from
industries
that
produce
equipment
and
pro-
vide
services
for
the
oil
industry,
the
develop-
ment
of
the
petrochemical
industry,
industrial
developments
linked
directly
to
the
involvement
of
foreign
companies
on
the
Continental
Shelf
and,
finally,
the
desire
to
develop
marginal
fields.
The
prevailing
belief
among
Norwegian
au-
thorities
is
that
the
rate
of
extraction
can
be
kept
under
control
by
a
restrictive
licencing
policy.
The
authors
doubt
this.
Because
of
the
time
lags
between
exploration
drilling,
development
deci-
sions
and
production,
licencing
policy
is
not
amenable
to
quick
change.
Furthermore,
it
is
difficult
to
make
adjustments
in
scale
and
area
as
long
as
Norwegian
authorities
practice
very
ex-
tensive
licence
rounds.
Regular
and
small
licence
rounds
would
at
least
be
better.
The
power
that
the
Oil
Directorate
has
in
being
able
to
delay
production
by
refusing
to
issue
drilling
permits
is
not
considered
as
giving
sufficient
extra
control.
The
authors
call
for
the
establishment
of
a
sys-
tem
that
allows
for
more
direct
control
over
production.
The
analysis
of
the
present
and
potential
ef-
fects
of
the
oil
activity
on
the
labour
market
in
Norway
is
another
interesting
part
of
the
book.
Lind
and
Mackay
emphasize
that
the
indirect
effect
of
the
oil
activity
in
this
respect,
is
much
more
important
than
the
direct
effects.
A
peak
of
about
32,000
people
employed
in
oil
related
activities
is
expected
to
be
reached
at
the
be-
ginning
of
the
80’s.
This
is
not
more
than
1.7%
of
the
total
Norwegian
labour
force.
Further-
more,
to
a
certain
extent
there
will
be
a
need
for
foreign
workers,
the
reason
being
that
the
labour
force
reserve
in
Norway
is
too
small
to
satisfy
this
short-time
demand.
A
reasonable
policy
would
therefore
be
to
shift
the
focus
from
the
labour-creating
effects
of
the
oil-activity
itself
to
the
possibilities
that
the
oil
revenues
offer
for
investments
in
new
and
more
durable
activity.
Norwegian
oil
policies
is
a
broad
topic
which
is
far
from
fully
analysed
in
this
book.
The
effects
of
the
oil
discoveries
on
Norwegian
foreign
policy
deserve
more
elaborate
analysis,
especially
since
this
is
a
book
addressed
primarily
to
non-Norwegian
readers.
The
book
does,
however,
give
a
good
overview
of
certain
other
important
aspects
of
Norwegian
oil
policies.
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