In a controversial decision this week, the UK government approved development of a huge new oil and gas field in the North Sea. The Rosebank oil and gas field is majority owned by the Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor.

Following this news, Alasdair talked to Professor Jonas Fossli Gjersø (University of Stavanger) about the history of Equinor - previously Statoil - and the way it has shaped Norway's economy, history, and environmental policy.

Audio production by Vasko Kostovski. 

Further reading: 

• 'Britain approves huge, controversial oil and gas field in the North Sea', CNN, 27/9/23
• 'The Great Leap Offshore: Sino-Norwegian Relations and Petro-Knowledge Transfers, 1976–1997'  by Jonas Fossli Gjersø in Enterprise and Society, 2022
• Commerce and politics: Statoil and Equinor 1972-2001, Eivind Thomassen, 2022
• 'Norway wants to lead on climate change. But first it must face its legacy of oil and gas', Vox, 15/1/21
• 'A greener shade of black? Statoil, the Norwegian government and climate change, 1990—2005' by Ada Nissen in Scandinavian Journal of History, 2021
• Det svarte skiftet, Eivind Trædal, 2018 [Norweigan]
• 'A Short History of the Norwegian Oil Industry: From Protected National Champions to Internationally Competitive Multinationals' by Helge Ryggvik in Business History Review, 2015

Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.