Norway's election niggles give Big Oil the jitters

Oslo

POLITICIANS and activists that have been fighting to rein in Norway's mighty oil industry are eyeing a breakthrough.

Several parties opposed to further oil exploration could emerge as kingmakers in the Sept 11 election. That will threaten a push to search for about nine billion barrels in Arctic crude and natural gas, which is necessary to prolong the petroleum age that made Norway one of the world's richest countries.

"I'm very worried," said Stale Kyllingstad, chief executive officer of IKM Gruppen AS, one of the biggest suppliers to the oil industry.

Big Oil's enemies are now gaining ground with both moral and financial arguments. Norwegians are increasingly questioning how to reconcile their role as western Europe's biggest oil and gas producer with fighting climate change an…