NORWEGIAN OIL MUSEUM (NORSK OLJEMUSEUM)

Open daily 10am-7pm June-August, rest of the year 10am-4pm Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm Sunday. Adults NOK 150; children NOK 75.

The idea of creating a museum dedicated to the oil industry in Stavanger was born as early as the 1970s, under the impetus of key people in the local oil community and the city council.

The Norwegian Petroleum Museum Foundation was established in 1981 and after many years of patient work succeeded in fully financing the NOK 165 million museum construction project in 1996.

This funding was shared between the central government, the county council, the local authority and sponsors from the oil industry. The construction work started in the summer of 1997 and the official opening was done by HM King Harald on 20 May 1999.

Lunde & Løvseth Architects won a national competition to design the building, which represents a symbolic interpretation of the Norwegian bedrock, the coastal landscape open to the sea, and the offshore facilities.

The 5,000-square-meter museum is located in the heart of Stavanger and includes exhibition space, a cinema, restaurant, library, meeting rooms, workshops and offices. Its operating costs are covered by a combination of its own income, government grants and contributions from sponsors.