ABSTRACT
The impact of oil on Norway's foreign policy is nowhere better demonstrated than in the dilemma Norway faces regarding Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Norwegians paid little more attention to OPEC before October 1973 than most people. When the dramatic events of the winter of 1973-1974 brought OPEC into the foreground as the arbiter of the price of oil, the question of Norway's relationship with that organization inevitably arose in the Norwegian press. The question of Norway's relationship with OPEC arose publicly in late 1974, when Secretary-General Khene visited Oslo as a guest of the Norwegian government. The secretary-general of OPEC, Ali Jaidah, reciprocated by traveling to Norway in July 1977, after the OPEC meeting in Stockholm. In an effort to accelerate the switch to alternative energy sources, the IEA has developed a program of research.
