5 ms·

Now all we have to do is convince the politicians in the US to walk away from their (perceived) oil as well off the coast of Alaska.

yostrovs 8y ago
This is actually excellent news for America's drillers, as reduced global supply will bolster prices and motivate more drilling in the U.S. And that is all this Norwegian decision will actually do: move production from one place to another. The people of Texas, North Dakota, Alaska, and a few other states, extend their thanks to the Norwegian parliament.
- claudius 8y ago
  Sure, in the short term, it will not have much effect apart from a) protecting the sensitive environment around the Lofoten islands b) increasing the cost of oil slightly c) leaving the oil around Lofoten for future generations if necessary All three are quite positive effects of this decision, with a+c) being more limited to Norway and b) potentially having an effect world-wide. It will also make it easier to tax "dirty" oil imports (such as from sensitive natural environments) and all goods produced using such oil into the EU if no internal player is doing the same.
- gbear605 8y ago
  If it increases prices, then fewer people will buy oil, causing less oil to be drilled.
  - HeWhoLurksLate 8y ago
    That doesn't mean less people need fuel, though...
    - saalweachter 8y ago
      It potentially means fewer people will need petroleum fuels. Petroleum fuels are only the only game in town for some of their applications. For everything else, raising or lowering the price relative to the alternatives will cause switching to or from petroleum fuels. This is going to be lagging (because there are usually capital costs associated with the switch, so it doesn't make sense to switch if you won't recoup the expense, so the fuel cost difference needs to be substantial), complex (because the switching will actually be based on the perceived future price difference, not the current price difference) and somewhat sticky.
    - gbear605 8y ago
      It might, if higher fuel costs cause people to, eg. buy an electric car
  - assblaster 8y ago
    Increasing price of oil incentivizes increased oil production. If oil prices fall because supply was increased too much, then demand will increase in response to the lower prices of oil.
- tenpies 8y ago
  The other side of this being that we want oil to be drilled in the jurisdictions with the best environmental protections. Grading aside, a barrel of oil from Alberta, Texas, Niger, Venezuela, or Norway all carry different environmental costs. In that regard, I think Norway not drilling may be a net loss for the environment since they have some of the better protections. It may even be a net global loss, even if it means a localized win.
  - fhbdukfrh 8y ago
    The combination of people fighting oil production in their own countries while making very few meaningful changes to their consumption patterns is a massive example of NIMBYism
    - vages 8y ago
      While the average consumption of a Norwegian is still too darned high, Norwegians have certainly been changing their consumption patterns in the last years: - Highest proportion of electric vehicles of any country in the world: https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/19/top-electric-car-countries-charts/ https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/19/top-electric-car-countr... - Establishing new onshore windmill farms: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-wind-idUSKCN1RD27H https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-wind-idUSKCN1RD27H - The rules for the government pension fund (aka. the oil fund) have become much more strict about investments in coal recently: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aftenposten.no%2Fnorge%2Fi%2FRRjdVW%2FMiljojubel-for-skjerpede-regler-for-kull-i-oljefondet https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https... Full disclosure: I am a Norwegian.
      - frosted-flakes 8y ago
        Code blocks don't wrap and are limited to a very narrow width on mobile, making prose difficult to read. I suggest putting each list item in a separate paragraph instead of using code blocks.
        8y ago

yostrovs 8y ago

This is actually excellent news for America's drillers, as reduced global supply will bolster prices and motivate more drilling in the U.S. And that is all this Norwegian decision will actually do: move production from one place to another. The people of Texas, North Dakota, Alaska, and a few other states, extend their thanks to the Norwegian parliament.

claudius 8y ago
Sure, in the short term, it will not have much effect apart from a) protecting the sensitive environment around the Lofoten islands b) increasing the cost of oil slightly c) leaving the oil around Lofoten for future generations if necessary All three are quite positive effects of this decision, with a+c) being more limited to Norway and b) potentially having an effect world-wide. It will also make it easier to tax "dirty" oil imports (such as from sensitive natural environments) and all goods produced using such oil into the EU if no internal player is doing the same.
gbear605 8y ago
If it increases prices, then fewer people will buy oil, causing less oil to be drilled.
- HeWhoLurksLate 8y ago
  That doesn't mean less people need fuel, though...
  - saalweachter 8y ago
    It potentially means fewer people will need petroleum fuels. Petroleum fuels are only the only game in town for some of their applications. For everything else, raising or lowering the price relative to the alternatives will cause switching to or from petroleum fuels. This is going to be lagging (because there are usually capital costs associated with the switch, so it doesn't make sense to switch if you won't recoup the expense, so the fuel cost difference needs to be substantial), complex (because the switching will actually be based on the perceived future price difference, not the current price difference) and somewhat sticky.
  - gbear605 8y ago
    It might, if higher fuel costs cause people to, eg. buy an electric car
- assblaster 8y ago
  Increasing price of oil incentivizes increased oil production. If oil prices fall because supply was increased too much, then demand will increase in response to the lower prices of oil.
tenpies 8y ago
The other side of this being that we want oil to be drilled in the jurisdictions with the best environmental protections. Grading aside, a barrel of oil from Alberta, Texas, Niger, Venezuela, or Norway all carry different environmental costs. In that regard, I think Norway not drilling may be a net loss for the environment since they have some of the better protections. It may even be a net global loss, even if it means a localized win.
- fhbdukfrh 8y ago
  The combination of people fighting oil production in their own countries while making very few meaningful changes to their consumption patterns is a massive example of NIMBYism
  - vages 8y ago
    While the average consumption of a Norwegian is still too darned high, Norwegians have certainly been changing their consumption patterns in the last years: - Highest proportion of electric vehicles of any country in the world: https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/19/top-electric-car-countries-charts/ https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/19/top-electric-car-countr... - Establishing new onshore windmill farms: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-wind-idUSKCN1RD27H https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-wind-idUSKCN1RD27H - The rules for the government pension fund (aka. the oil fund) have become much more strict about investments in coal recently: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aftenposten.no%2Fnorge%2Fi%2FRRjdVW%2FMiljojubel-for-skjerpede-regler-for-kull-i-oljefondet https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https... Full disclosure: I am a Norwegian.
    - frosted-flakes 8y ago
      Code blocks don't wrap and are limited to a very narrow width on mobile, making prose difficult to read. I suggest putting each list item in a separate paragraph instead of using code blocks.
      - 8y ago