Upgrading the ‘Petropolis’ of the North? Resource peripheries, global production networks, and local access to the Snøhvit natural gas complex

Abstract

Steen, M. & Underthun, A. 2011. Upgrading the ‘Petropolis’ of the North? Resource peripheries, global production networks and local access to the Snøhvit natural gas complex. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift–Norwegian Journal of Geography Vol. 65, 212–225. ISSN 0029-1951.

The article explores and assesses local and regional firms’ access to a natural gas extraction and refining complex located at the northern frontier of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Controversial in environmental terms, the complex has been largely legitimized by the promise of regional economic development in North Norway, where opportunities for a localized support industry would have to be interpreted as constitutive of such a promise. The article employs a Global Production Network theoretical approach, and the authors pay particular attention to the complex interaction and power struggle between local, national, and global firms and institutions.

Keywords:

• global production networks
• Norway
• periphery
• petroleum
• regional development

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Editor-in-Chief Michael Jones, Guest Editor Berit Kristoffersen, Asbjørn Karlsen, and two anonymous referees for valuable comments during the development of this article. We are also grateful to Radmil Popovic for assistance with maps. This research has partly been supported by funding from the project Multilevel Governance and the Politics of Natural Gas, financed by the Research Council of Norway (Norges Forskningsråd) through their programme DEMOSREG, Democracy, Governance and Regionalism (2005–2010).

Notes

1. The term ‘extra-local’ includes all economic actors outside the Hammerfest regions. By ‘local’, we refer to companies located in Hammerfest, while ‘regional’ refers to municipalities in Finnmark County and Troms County.

2. All quotations from informants have been translated from Norwegian into English by the authors.

3. This refers to the three northernmost counties in Norway: Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark.

4. This is reflected in the ‘10 Norwegian Oil Commandments’ (St.meld. nr. 76 (1970–1971)), of which no. 9 is stated as: ‘The activity north of 62 degrees shall satisfy the special societal impact conditions tied to this part of the country.’

5. Undoubtedly, there are advantages related to being ‘left out’ of the petroleum adventure. The fishing industry has never been keen on oil drilling and the growing travel and leisure industry also sees the untouched nature of Northern Norway as a comparative advantage.

6. Estimates for the total cost of Snøhvit range as high as NOK 60 billion (Angell 2010), i.e. double the initial cost estimate.