The next challenge for Norway’s oil industry may not come from another oil price crash. It could come from a political uncertainty over which new areas Western Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer should open up for drilling to stem an expected decline in production after the mid-2020s. Norway has a temporary ban in place for petroleum activity off the scenic Lofoten archipelago of the Lofoten, Vesterålen, and Senja islands. The two biggest parties, however—the Conservative and Labor parties—have been in favor of conducting an environmental impact study in those areas, in what would be a first step toward studying possible oil and gas exploration in the area. For years, those parties have compromised with their smaller junior partners—who firmly oppose drilling off Lofoten—in various coalition governments to keep the area off limits to the petroleum industry. In recent months, though, signs emerged that the Lofoten chapters of the […]