ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the political economy which has shaped the development of major petroleum fields in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Between the 1970s and the turn of the millennium, several changes affected that part of the industry which was oriented towards offshore oil activities. Many American supply companies held a strong position, even if the volume of production in the Gulf of Mexico did stagnate until the early 1990s. On the basis of the extensive offshore market in the North Sea, competitive supply companies developed, particularly in Norway, Great Britain and France, Italy and the Netherlands. In the light of comparable projects in Brazil and the North Sea, the American sector shows that it has not been only economic responses to geographical and geological conditions that have shaped the development, but also social and political conditions have been decisive for the direction of technology development in different regions. These preconditions were also important for many Norwegian suppliers, which from the early 1990s and on worked hard to succeed in the U.S. offshore market.
