Because It Makes Sense: A Corporate Discourse Analysis of Shell and Allseas on Nord Stream 2 (2015-2022)

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the discourse by two, Dutch-rooted companies, Allseas and Shell on the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) project from 2015 to 2022. Allseas was responsible for the pipelaying and Shell financially backed the project. From the very start, the pipeline was subjected to scrutiny by many parties in Europe and the USA. The latter eventually imposed sanctions on Allseas intending to torpedo the NS2 project. While NS2 has been extensively research from a country perspective, this thesis brings the involved companies and their discourse to light for the first time. The analytical framework is based on Tichy's discourse types (integration, liberalization and diversification). Out of the few instances Allseas spoke about NS2, it became clear that the company portrayed the project as commercial but used mostly the Russian diversification discourse. Shell on the other hand stepped forward more to talk about NS2. As it was financially involved in NS2, it sought to ensure that the pipeline would be constructed, despite being politicized. To achieve that, it had the strategy to refrain from mingling in the debate. In this strategy, the liberalization discourse fitted the best. Shell emphasized the economic advantages of NS2, highlighting that it was a commercial project. This addition to the academic debate does not only concern this business-centered approach but also with the liberalization discourse. It presented a paradox: Shell deliberately chose the least political discourse to refrain from politics. However, by doing so it became a political choice by itself. The liberalization discourse thus proved to be as political as the other two.