Report
New report shows that Norwegian Labour and Conservative parties echo the oil industry in their communication
Oil Change International, Analyse & Tall SA
New report shows that Norwegian Labour and Conservative parties echo the oil industry in their communication
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 January 2021 and July 2025. The analysis covers more than 160,000 posts from politicians, parties, government bodies, environmental organizations, and oil companies.
Read the report (only available in Norwegian)
Key findings:
- 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.