A special seminar and evening reception will mark the opening this week of a new exhibition which charts a groundbreaking milestone in what has been termed the most important economic post-war development in Scotland and the UK.
Frigg: Gas from the North Sea is the culmination of an 18-month project to document the Frigg field, initiated by TOTAL E&P UK which has funded the project together with the Norwegian joint venture Gassled. The aim was to create a unique resource for the industry and the public to enjoy both online and as a fixed exhibition. As the first international field to be exploited in Europe, Frigg became the model on which later collaborative agreements and operations were based.
The Frigg UK documentation project has been undertaken by the University of Aberdeen and has been the initiating factor for the Capturing the Energy initiative, a partnership between industry, government and heritage organisations to create an ongoing record of the achievements of the UK's offshore oil and gas history, for the industry, the wider public, and for future generations.
On 13 March, industry leaders will join academics and representatives of heritage organisations for an afternoon seminar at Aberdeen's iconic Marischal College to celebrate two years of achievement for Capturing the Energy. Speakers will include Dr Miles Oglethorpe, Head of Policy Liaison and Modernisation at Historic Scotland, and Erik Hjelde, MCP-01 Cessation Manager at TOTAL E&P UK (full programme below).
Following the afternoon event, the Frigg exhibition will be formally opened in Marischal Museum by David Mendelson, Business Development Director of TOTAL E&P UK, Professor Christopher Gane, Vice Principal of the University of Aberdeen, and Rt Hon Brian Wilson, patron of Capturing the Energy and former UK energy minister.
The exhibition has been created by specialist staff from the University's museums and archives in conjunction with TOTAL E&P UK Ltd. It draws on a variety of material, tying in with similar work at the Norwegian Petroleum Museum in Stavanger. The Frigg UK collection held at the University contains over 1,500 individual items, including engineering drawings, technical manuals, operational records, staff magazines, photographs, and film and video footage. Oral history recordings provide a uniquely personal view of how the arrival of North Sea gas shaped people's lives.
"As one of the leading operators in the North Sea and with many more years in front of us in ever more challenging environments, TOTAL considers this opportunity to capture the experiences of the past as an important aspect of our business."
Professor Christopher Gane, Vice Principal at the University of Aberdeen, expressed the University's delight with its role in the project, saying: "We have very much enjoyed working with Total and the other partners on this fascinating exhibition, which we hope will be of interest not only to the industry but to the wider public, especially here in the North-east.
"This project is especially significant in the way it brings together the skills of our dedicated team of curators with a major offshore operator, and a commitment to preserve, for future generations, information about an industry which shaped not only our local and national economy but also the cultural development of the communities of the east coast of Scotland."
Speaking on behalf of Historic Scotland, Dr Miles Oglethorpe said: "The completion of the Frigg documentation projects in the UK and Norway is a great step forward, and gives us an inspiring window onto an extraordinary industry, the achievements of which have not in the past been adequately understood or properly recognised."
The exhibition is online at www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/friggexhibition and will run at Marischal Museum from 14 March until 27 June.
More information about the documentation project is online at www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/energyarchive