The fall out of crude prices in past months is expected to continue.
Over the last 50 years, petroleum exploitation along the country’s continental shelf has become a keystone force in Norway’s economy, insofar as the krone fluctuates with oil trends. The surplus wealth produced from the petroluem sector is public. The Oljefondet, or oil fund, today stands at $7017 billion NOK and is used annually to support government services and cultural production.
The international Bergen Port, the largest in Norway, receives half a million visitors each year. This number is only overshadowed by the 68 million tonnes of cargo that traffic thru annually, making it one of the busiest commercial ports in Europe.
Kollsnes is a natural gas processing facility located on One Island, northwest to Bergen municipality. It is operated by Gassco and serves as important nodes in both Statoil and Tampnet networks. While on-shore, Kollsnes is connected to various offshore megastructures by systems of natural gas pipelines, high-speed internet fiber optic cables and the flows of workers who commute between land and sea. Further, the 143 million m3 of rich gas processed daily reaches consumers all over the country and beyond to other European nations.
It's famously said that the best approach to Bergen is by sea. On Sunday Februry 7, we'll do the opposite. Bergen Port will serve as our point of exit for walking out of the city towards Kollsnes. This is a substantial walk of 54km (33.5 mile) and will take place over two days since daylight is short. We'll stay overnight on the island of Sotra as a halfway benchmark and continue on in the morning. After reaching our destination, we will return by public bus.
Please prepare vigorously. Bring sturdy walking shoes, many changes of socks to keep the feet dry and functional, rain + cold protection (layers), energy snacks + plenty of water! Reading + other content will scaffold this journey, so feel free to prepare an article or two to contribute.
All people are welcome to join. The walk itself is free to participate in. If lodging or public transport fees are problematic, get in touch, we'll try to figure something out!
Portions of the walk will be documented as part of the slow-walking project.
Walk with us!
