ABSTRACT
In the UK context, with the prospect of declining oil production and rising imports of oil after 1990, it can appear as unnecessarily cumbersome to change the oil regime. In Norway, by contrast, with the prospect of increasing oil production in the opening up of the northern waters, it can appear as quite necessary to review the whole question of the oil regime. Oil taxation could be replaced by revenue sharing, or by channelling all oil revenues to the Treasuries. UK and Norwegian oil policies should be seen critically at two levels, at the level of policy formulation and at the level of policy implementation. The choices are either a movement in the direction of full nationalisation of the oil industry or a movement in the direction of an increasing reprivatisation of the Norwegian oil industry.
