Mongstad is Norway's only oil refinery. Owned by Equinor (79%) and Shell (21%), it processes around 12 million tonnes of crude oil per year, covering over 80% of Norway's fuel demand. Most of the output is petrol, diesel, and jet fuel. The facility sits on the coast about 60 km north of Bergen, and the industrial complex is clearly visible from Road 57.
Mongstad opened in 1975, but it is best remembered for what happened in the late 1980s. A major expansion project ran 6 billion kroner over budget, causing a national scandal that cost several Statoil executives their jobs. The word Mongstad-skandalen entered Norwegian political vocabulary as shorthand for public money wasted on a grand scale.
In 2012, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the opening of the CO2 capture test facility here Norway's 'moon landing'. The facility, the world's largest of its kind, was meant to prove that carbon capture could work at industrial scale. The results were mixed, and the moon landing comparison has been used against politicians ever since. The test centre still operates, run by Equinor.
Mongstad opened in 1975, but it is best remembered for what happened in the late 1980s. A major expansion project ran 6 billion kroner over budget, causing a national scandal that cost several Statoil executives their jobs. The word Mongstad-skandalen entered Norwegian political vocabulary as shorthand for public money wasted on a grand scale.
In 2012, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the opening of the CO2 capture test facility here Norway's 'moon landing'. The facility, the world's largest of its kind, was meant to prove that carbon capture could work at industrial scale. The results were mixed, and the moon landing comparison has been used against politicians ever since. The test centre still operates, run by Equinor.