INTERSECT – New geopolitics and the interaction between safety and security in petroleum risk governance

The goal of the project is to develop new, applicable knowledge about how to collaborate across political and societal levels and sectors to safeguard the security of petroleum infrastructure in a time of threats against this infrastructure. The point of departure is the dramatic change in the geopolitical situation in Europe caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to immediate concern for the security of European energy infrastructure. Following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines and observations of unidentified drones around Norwegian offshore oil and gas installations, increasing the security of petroleum infrastructure in and from Norway has become a priority. A range of international, governmental, and corporate actors must now collaborate to coordinate efforts to secure critical petroleum infrastructure.

Coordination and collaboration between widely different actors around shared problems often prove challenging, due to differing mandates, focus areas, and professional cultures. INTERSECT explores how the institutional environment surrounding petroleum infrastructure collaborates—and can collaborate—on security. The project analyses challenges and opportunities for security governance across several analytical levels: international, national/governmental, sector and industry levels. INTERSECT studies the interaction and cooperation between a range of actors, including NATO, the EU, Norwegian governmental institutions, regulatory authorities, and petroleum companies. The focus is on identifying and addressing collaboration barriers related to security issues.

INTERSECT also analyses security work within individual levels, such as within companies in the industry. The state is responsible for national security, but companies own the petroleum infrastructure. For companies, the new geopolitical circumstances are significant, as they force increased attention to security and new types of risk scenarios. This entails a substantial professional and cultural shift in a sector where safety work has traditionally been heavily oriented toward safety rather than security. INTERSECT explores internal corporate adaptations in collaboration with key companies in the Norwegian sector and critically analyses the role of companies in security policy.

INTERSECT is an interdisciplinary social science project.The project is led by NTNU Social Research AS, with Senior Researcher Susanne Therese Hansen as project manager. INTERSECT received 70 per cent of its funding from the Research Council of Norway, while 30 per cent comes from Gassco, Equinor, Vår Energi and the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority. The project started in December 2023 and will run for a period of four years.