The paper summarizes the key messages of the GSI seminar Subsidies or Incentives? Norway's support for upstream oil and gas held in Oslo, Norway, on February 16, 2012.

The seminar brought together representatives from the Norwegian government, oil industry and environmental organizations. Discussions began with a summary of a GSI research paper on producer subsidies in Norway and focused on various issues, including what the right definition of "subsidy" should be in this context, the optimality of Norway's fiscal regime and the importance of increasing transparency on subsidy spending.