New report reveals the Norwegian Labour and Conservative parties echo the oil industry in their communication
For immediate release
A new report, “The Debate on Norwegian Oil and Gas in Social Media”, commissioned by Oil Change International, prepared by Analyse & Tall, reveals how Norwegian oil policy was discussed on Facebook and Instagram between 2021 and 2025. The analysis covers more than 160,000 posts from politicians, parties, government bodies, environmental organizations, and oil companies.
The report highlights two clear trends in the debate:
Labour and Conservatives communicate most like the oil industry
When the Labour Party (Ap) and the Conservative Party (Høyre) address oil and gas, their messaging strongly resembles that of Equinor and Offshore Norge. Typical talking points include energy security, jobs, Norway’s role as a stable supplier to Europe, and that the Norwegian shelf must be “developed, not wound down”.
The fringes of the debate set the agenda
The Progress Party (FrP) and the Green Party (MDG) are the parties that post the most about oil and gas, and their posts generate by far the most engagement. Labour and the Conservatives, on the other hand, address the issue very rarely: well under two percent of their posts on Facebook and under one percent on Instagram mention oil and gas. As a result, the so-called governing parties appear strikingly absent from the online debate.
Silje Lundberg, Campaign Manager at Oil Change International, said:
“The findings show that the oil and gas debate on social media is highly polarized. Labour and the Conservatives have largely ceded the arena to others – and when they do communicate, they repeat almost identical arguments to those of the oil industry.”
About the report
The report, “The Debate on Norwegian Oil and Gas in Social Media,” was carried out by Analyse & Tall on behalf of Oil Change International. It is based on a comprehensive mapping of all posts and interactions related to oil and gas politics on Facebook and Instagram from January 2021 to July 2025. In total, more than 160,000 posts were analyzed.
Read the report here.