About the Industrial Heritage Projects
For that reason, the Norwegian Petroleum Museum together with the National Archives and the National Library have so far documented six fields on the Norwegian Shelf – Ekofisk, Frigg, Statfjord, Valhall, Draugen and Gullfaks.
These fields are chosen in accordance with Oil and gas fields in Norway. Industrial Heritage plan
The purpose is to provide posterity with a full and nuanced picture of what once was, and an opportunity to understand the current developments and their implications for the industrial and societal development in Norway. The projects will preserve a representative selection of historically valuable materials that otherwise would be permanently lost.
The documentation of the fields sheds light on installations above and below sea-level, their exteriors and interiors, and machines and equipment along . It encompasses work processes, work environments, ripple effects on economy, politics and society. It includes traits of the field itself and its development such as technological development, special projects, historical events, negotiations and decisions vital to the development plans, choice of concepts, political debates and decisions as well as matters of local, regional, national and international importance.
While gathering and selecting the sources, careful considerations of the material as grounds for future research and outreach were made.
Each of the six fields are represented on industriminne.no/en/. The website explores themes such as operations, work life, economy & society, and history. Furthermore, a timeline with the most important events is provided.
The website also includes two other projects (which are not Industrial Heritage projects).
One covers Statoil’s/Equinor’s history from 1972 to 2022 under the project title Equinor 50 Years. This is the official, web-based history produced for the company’s 50th anniversary. From 2026, the site will be updated regularly, offering a unique combination of up-to-date relevance and historical depth about Norway’s single most valuable company. The website
also provides important corporate context for several of the Industrial Heritage projects mentioned above, primarily concerning the Equinor-operated fields Statfjord and Gullfaks.
The other project documents various aspects of the Alexander L. Kielland accident in 1980, with particular emphasis on the experiences of survivors and the bereaved, as well as the work of the Kielland Network.