Resource nationalism revisited: A new conceptualization in light of changing actors and strategies in the oil industry

Abstract

Resource nationalism is a central concept in the contemporary debates on energy policy. Through an extensive review of literature, this paper identifies the emerging questions on resource nationalism in the last two decades and offers a new conceptualization based on emerging trends in the oil sector. The first section focuses on the conceptualization of resource nationalism, offering an alternative definition and arguing for the necessity of a composite measure. The second section analyzes business-state relations in the oil sector and the arguments on determinants of resource nationalism. The last section compares old and new methods of resource nationalism with an emphasis on three main developments identified in the literature: 1) the change in motives that marks a shift from ideological reasons to pragmatism in state policies; 2) the change in methods from nationalization to creeping expropriation; and 3) the change in actor configuration with the increasing dominance of national oil companies vis-à-vis international oil companies.