You could spend hours in this state-of-the-art, beautifully designed museum, one of Norway's best. Focusing on oil exploration in the North Sea from discovery in 1969 until the present, it's filled with high-tech interactive displays and authentic reconstructions.
Highlights include the world's largest drill bit, simulated rig working environments, documentary films on a North Sea dive crew's work day and a vast hall of amazing oil platform models.
There is also an exhibition recreating millions of years of natural history and an interactive display that teases out energy and climate policy dilemmas.
The museum nicely balances the technical side of oil exploration and extraction while honouring those whose working lives have been spent in the industry. The later is done through fascinating archival material that highlights significant moments in the history of Norwegian oil including coverage of the Alexander L Kielland tragedy in 1980, when 123 oil workers were killed, and the 1972 decision by Norway's parliament that Statoil should be based in Stavanger.
You will spend longer here than you planned, especially if you have kids.
