| dc.description.abstract | The thesis investigates how the development of the Norwegian Troll gas field became an integral part of the Cold War, and how Norway coped with the domestic and foreign political issues brought about by Troll’s significance for Western energy security. In 1981, two years after Troll’s discovery, West Europe and the Soviet Union signed “the deal of the century,” that is, the construction of a Euro-Siberian gas pipeline—an agreement the U.S. strongly opposed. The U.S. from then had two main objectives; to squeeze out Soviet gas from the European market by imposing sanctions on the pipeline and suggesting Norwegian gas as an alternative. Troll became in this way the most important Norwegian energy resource which increased Norway’s significance in European energy security. In this way, Norwegian policies, such as the depletion rate, became an international concern and thus a foreign policy issue for the Norwegian government. The current study analyses the increased international focus on Norway’s natural gas at the height of the Cold War between 1981 and 1983. To this end, the main research question is as follows: Why did Reagan’s administration attempt to pressure Norway to accelerate the Troll field development, and why did they not succeed? The thesis is thus located at the crossroads of Cold War history, international relations, and the Norwegian petroleum history. By investigating declassified Norwegian and American documents, the current study describes how the tension due to the Cold War made Norwegian gas a matter of international concern. In contrast to previous assumptions, the current thesis reveals that the Americans viewed Troll primarily from a long-term perspective to secure European energy supplies. It was the Sleipner field whose production the Americans initially wanted to accelerate to offset the prospected second Euro-Siberian pipeline. That meant that the first Euro-Siberian pipeline deal signed in 1981 was soon regarded as a fait accompli. While declassified documents shed light upon detailed American insights into Norwegian petroleum development, the current thesis also exposes the American lack of understanding of broader issues of Norwegian policies, such as the wish to retain national control over its resources. | eng |