As a seafaring nation in pre-modernity, Norwegian sailors regularly came across ships from the Barbary States.[3]
Relations between Algeria and Norway were not substantial, though an inquiry was made in 1979 whether Norway should open an embassy there.[4] Instead, Norway later established an embassy in Tunisia to facilitate the Oslo Process.[5]
Like in Angola and Nigeria, Algeria's petroleum sector attracted investments from the Norwegian state-owned petroleum company Statoil. From 2003 Statoil was a co-owner of the oil fields at In Amenas and In Salah.[3] Investing billions of Norwegian kroner in Algeria, Statoil lobbied to move the Tunis embassy to Algiers. The move was carried through in 2007.[5][4][6] Norway's ambassador to Algeria now has a side accreditation to Tunisia.[7]
In the 2000s, Algeria wanted to buy products from the Norwegian military industry. Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused a permit to sell to Algeria on three occasions, in 2004, 2007 and 2008, before accepting in 2011. Algeria subsequently purchased weapons control systems developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.[8] In 2012, the Algerian fregate La Soumman embarked on an official visit to Oslo. In 2013, the In Amenas hostage crisis saw the killing of 5 Norwegian citizens, who were Statoil employees. Norway offered to send special forces to Algeria to root out the attackers, but Algeria declined.[3]
