Published by Oil Change International.
November 2023
A new report commissioned by Oil Change International attempts to map out the potential influence that oil and gas interests may have on other influential stakeholders in Norway. The report, titled Mapping the network of Norwegian oil and gas interests, reveals that within a condensed network of 1,000 highly interconnected Norwegian organizations, 21% of “well-connected” individuals are connected to oil and gas interests. Additionally, we reveal that most of the Norwegian environmental NGOs are not very well-connected within the broader Norwegian society.
Utilizing Social Network Analysis (SNA), this study looks at how well-connected oil and gas interests are within in a highly synthesized network of very well-connected individuals and organizations in Norway, from the period 2021-2022. As urgency to address the climate crisis increases, and governments (including Norway) must introduce more ambitious climate policies to usher the transition away from oil and gas, this report aims to increase transparency in the future discussions around oil and gas in Norway. This report has been commissioned by Oil Change International, and was conducted by Analyse & Tall, a Scandinavian research agency consisting of sociologists, media scientists, anthropologists, developers, designers, astrophysicists, economists, rhetoricians, and social scientists.
Key findings from the report for the period 2021-2022 are as follows:
- A relatively small number of oil- and gas interests has an impressive reach: 21% of individuals within a condensed network of 1,000 highly interconnected organizations in Norwegian society are connected to oil and gas interests
- When the overall network was condensed to the top 100 connected organizations in Norway, the share of individuals connected to oil and gas interests increased to 25%, showing they are at the core of the most connected organizations in the network.. The top most connected individual in Norwegian society is an oil and gas interest.
- Out of the 100 most well-connected individuals in the network, 13 were associated with oil and gas interests, underscoring their influence within Norwegian society.
- The organization that stands out the most is the oil and gas lobby forum KonKraft, which has an influential network to many different sectors. They were one of the main actors lobbying for the $10.8 billion tax breaks for the oil and gas industry in Norway after the COVID-19 pandemic.