Wine carboys for sale

person by the Norwegian Petroleum Museum
The wells on Ekofisk needed regular acid treatment to maintain full production. Nordal Torstensen, who worked for BJ Services in the 1960s and 1970s, reports that this acid arrived at Stavanger’s Strømsteinen base in 50-litre glass carboys.
— The petroleum industry made its mark in the cityscape of Stavanger in the early 1970s. Photo: Sigurd Tang Wa/Norwegian Petroleum Museum
© Norsk Oljemuseum

“We had to transfer the acid to big tanks, because it couldn’t be sent offshore in glass containers. But we were left with a huge number of carboys. Finally, we advertised them in the papers for sale to home winemakers.

“There were thousands of them, and they sold like hotcakes. People came from the Jæren district and Egersund south of Stavanger with lorries to buy them at NOK 5 apiece. The result was a solid profit, which the boss decided to spend on a big company party.

“The worst aspect was that we loaded acid into supply ships in Stavanger’s inner Vågen harbour, where railway tracks ran all the way down to the wharf just outside the Dickens pub.

“We stood there at night and transferred acid from tank cars to tanks on supply ship. You can imagine what that was like, with acid fumes and so forth.

“And when 01.00-02.00 came and people began going home from the pubs, they absolutely had to come over and see what we were doing. We had our hands full keeping them away.”

Related by Nordal Torstensen

Published 4. July 2019   •   Updated 23. June 2023
© Norsk Oljemuseum
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