ABSTRACT
One obvious effect is that Stavanger has become the national center for oil activities. The public debate, the authorities and the news media have largely concentrated on the size and growth of oil activities, and whether or not the Stavanger area can cope with the expansion. This is an important question, but too strong a focus on it has probably diverted attention from the character of different parts of the oil activities and their longterm implications for the area. The Stavanger area has increasingly adapted to oil activities and the area mirrors both the positive and the negative aspects of oil-related growth in many ways.
