The extraction of oil and gas from offshore continental shelves represents one of the most dynamic sectors of global petroleum development. It is also one of the most complex. Atlantic Canada is no exception and the history of Scotian Basin petroleum over the past half century reveals a fascinating series of political challenges, accommodations, and settlements. Peter Clancy's comprehensive analysis of petroleum politics in Nova Scotia demonstrates the complex intergovernmental and intercorporate relationships, ecological concerns, and Aboriginal interests that have complicated offshore development. Drawing on primary documents, archival sources, and informant interviews, he addresses themes of institutional adaptation and rigidity, "basin development" as a policy challenge, the strong and weak characteristics of the offshore state, and the shifting shapes of the offshore polity. This informative study of petroleum politics in the Scotian Basin reveals the complex interplay of regulation and risk as industry, federal, and provincial authorities strive to develop Canada's Atlantic offshore oil and gas resources. Peter Clancy is a professor of political science at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.