Explore Norway’s Oil Adventure
This week, I want to share with you something special I saw in Norway: the Norwegian Petroleum Museum in the center of Stavanger. This will be the last thing I wanted to share about Norway.
This is one side of the museum.
Norway’s oil comes from the sea, and oil platforms are built offshore. This is not something you see in East Asia. When I was a child, I only saw oil platforms in movies, so seeing them in real life was very special for me.
The museum shows how Norway became a big oil country. It also shows how dangerous it can be to work in this high-income industry. It made me think that everything has two sides, and when you choose a path, you must accept both its positive and negative impacts on your life.
The museum building looks like an oil platform. Inside, it shows the history of Norway’s oil industry, how oil platforms are built, diving equipment, many oil platform models, and even a place to experience escape drills.
Escape drills
You will slide down from the top a little at a time.
Condeep successor
The most interesting thing for me was learning that when building an oil platform, divers have to go to the seabed to build the base. Some seabeds are 350 meters deep, and the divers wear metal diving suits to do the difficult underwater work. This kind of job pays very well, but it is also risky. According to Norwegian law, since 2002, divers can only go down to 180 meters. In the 1980s, they could dive as deep as 400 meters.
Other Condeep successor design
Look at the background picture! I can't believe I have to work in this bad weather.
Offshore work has many unpredictable dangers. For example, oil platforms can be destroyed by huge waves, or workers have to climb on the platform during storms to repair pipes, with just a rope keeping them safe above the sea.
Long-term diving can cause both mental and physical problems. A Norwegian friend told me that when he was young, there were news stories about divers asking the government for compensation due to health problems caused by long-term diving. Nowadays, these cases are rare because machines have replaced much of the work.
As technology advances, condeep successors are now far offshore.
Another thing that surprised me was the large concrete structures under the oil platforms. I was amased at how they move and install such big concrete pieces with many ships. The planning and engineering behind this are incredible.
If you are interested in big construction and engineering projects, I highly recommend visiting this museum to learn more about the offshore oil industry!
