Power, trust and robustness – the politicization of HSE in the Norwegian petroleum regime

Abstract Recent studies of offshore oil and gas industry problematize the role of supervisory bodies with respect to the audit functions, the legal basis of the supervisory bodies, and the role conflicts that arise when handling a function-based regulatory regime. This paper addresses how trust and the execution of power among the Petroleum Safety Authority, Norway, (PSA) and the petroleum industrial actors will affect the robustness of the Norwegian safety regime on the Norwegian continental shelf. This requires a twofold discussion wherein we will use empirical evidence to answer two questions: (1) how a function-based regulatory regime presupposes a balance of power and trust between the actors in play, resulting in a possible politicization of the HSE field; and (2) how politicization of HSE may affect the robustness of the Norwegian petroleum regime. The analysis is based focus group interviews from 2013 and 2014.