ABSTRACT

Chapter 11 looks at how diversified petroleum supply companies are and whether their competencies can also be applied in other industries. This has become an increasingly important policy issue for countries looking at lessening the dependence on natural resource industries. To address this issue we investigate the competence bases and diversification patterns among Norwegian petroleum supply companies, and compare the characteristics of diversified firms with non-diversified firms. The analysis reveals that a substantial share of petroleum supply firms also have activities in markets other than oil and gas, and that firms with more general-purpose competences are more likely to be diversified than companies with petroleum-specific competences.