The green flings: Norwegian oil and gas industry's engagement in offshore wind power

Highlights: • Norwegian oil and gas industry's engagement in offshore wind power fluctuated. • These fluctuations corresponded mainly with the changes in oil and gas market. • Reorientations took place rapidly when oil and gas market declined. • Transition policies should target the economic conditions of incumbent industries. -- Abstract: Reorientation of fossil fuel industries towards renewable energy, and the role of changes in organizational environment underlying such processes, have not featured strongly in the study of sustainable energy transitions. We contribute to this important policy issue with a case study of the Norwegian oil and gas industry and its engagement in offshore wind power. We study how the engagement has changed during the period 2007–2016, and whether these changes correspond with developments in the industry's task and institutional environments. Our study reveals that despite relatively stable institutional environment and continuous growth in offshore wind market over the last decade, the oil and gas industry's engagement has fluctuated over time. These fluctuations – green flings – took place during two market downturns in the oil and gas market, while during an oil and gas boom the industry reoriented back to this core market. Our results draw attention to the potential importance of market changes for reorientation of fossil fuel industries towards renewable energy. We conclude by discussing the implications of our study for policies seeking to support sustainable energy transitions.