ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a detailed account of the relationship between Norway and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from 1982 to present. It describes Norway's role in the cooperation between oil producers. The chapter discusses the effects on the changes in Norway's role in the international oil market, the Norwegian economy, and internal political deliberations of Norway's willingness to cooperate with OPEC. During the 1990s, Norway has become one of the largest oil and gas exporters in the world. At the same time the petroleum sector has become the dominant economic sector in the Norwegian economy. The empirical argument in the chapter is that the Norwegian foreign petroleum policy during the last ten to fifteen years can be characterized by the Norwegian authorities' use of both domestic and diplomatic instruments to cope with the changes in the most important external determinant for the Norwegian economy: the international oil market.
