Natural Gas: New Dimensions of Norwegian Foreign Policy
| Author | Martin Saeter |
| Published date | 01 July 1982 |
| Date | 01 July 1982 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/001083678201700206 |
Natural
Gas:
New
Dimensions
of
Norwegian
Foreign
Policy
MARTIN
SAETER
Norwegian
Institute
of
International
Affairs,
Oslo
Saeter,
M.
Natural
Gas:
New
Dimensions
of
Norwegian
Foreign
Policy.
Cooperation
and
Conflict,
XVII
,
1982,
139-150.
The
author
analyses
the
foreign
policy
aspects
of
Norwegian
natural
gas
policy
in
a
regional
European
perspective.
The
focus
is
on
the
development
of
a
regional
West
European
pipeline
gas
supply
system
as
part
of
a
more
wide-ranging
economic
and
political
cooperation
of
a
long-term
character.
Because
the
main
sources
of
such
a
gas
supply
system
are
Norway,
the
Soviet
Union,
and
Algeria,
and
because
huge
pipelines
from
these
countries
to
Western
Europe
constitute
the
concrete
basis
of
the
system,
there
are
important
political
considerations
involved.
Especially
the
prospect
of
bring-
ing
gas
by
pipeline
through
Sweden
to
the
Continent
brings
the
interface
of
East-
West,
Nordic,
and
West
European
dimensions
into
focus.
Finally,
possibilities
for
Norwegian-Soviet
energy
cooperation
are
discussed.
I.
INTRODUCTION
Several
factors
are
combining
to
make
the
1980s
the
’decade
of
gas’.
First,
natural
gas
makes
up
an
increasing
share
of
total
energy
consumption,
partly
replacing
oil.
1
Second,
increased
gas
prices
make
gas
activities,
including
exploration,
devel-
opment
of
new
fields,
and
long
distance
transport,
economically
more
attractive.
Third,
there
is
the
express
need
for
secur-
ing
long-term
inter-state
supply
contracts,
comprising
in
many
cases
huge
pipeline
projects.
Fourth,
in
Europe
East-West
cooperation
in
the
field
of
gas
supply
is
creating
a
kind
of
interdependence
superseding
system
barriers,
but
at
the
same
time
is
causing
new
frictions
between
Western
Europe
and
the
United
States.
Finally,
the
construction
of
an
extensive
common
gas
supply
grid
for
Western
Europe
is
an
important
part
of
the
more
comprehensive
European
pro-
cess
of
cooperation
and
integration
which
increasingly
influences
European
as
well
as
global
politics.
Norwegian
gas
policy
at
the
beginning
of
the
1980s
reflects
this
development.
Foreign
interests
in
Norwegian
gas
devel-
opment
have
become
more
articulate,
strongly
stimulated
by
significant
new
finds
on
the
Norwegian
shelf.
In
a
matter
of
decades,
Norway
will
probably
be
the
sole
gas-exporting
country
in
Western
Europe.
During
1980
and
part
of
1981
Great
Britain,
on
the
one
hand,
and
sev-
eral
continental
countries,
on
the
other,
were
competing
for
access
to
the
Statfjord
gas,
until
the
Norwegian
Parliament
on
June
10,
1981,
opted
for
the
Continental
alternative,2
thereby
tying
Norway
still
more
tightly
to
the
common
West
Euro-
pean
gas
supply
pipeline
system.
Fur-
thermore,
in
1981
the
East-West
prob-
lems
made
themselves
felt
in
Norwegian
gas
politics
for
the
first
time,
as
the
United
States
sought
to
prevent
West
European
countries
from
entering
into
large
gas
import
contracts
with
the Soviet
Union,
pointing
to
Norway
as
a
potential
substi-
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