Esso-Park!

Esso-Park! explores one of the oldest, now abandoned oil infrastructures in Stavanger, the so-called ‘oil capital’ of Norway. The initiative invites neighbours and others to encounter the site’s ruins and ruderal plants through conversations, walking, resting, sketching and other activities—as gathering spaces for reflecting on the city’s uncertain post-petroleum and climate futures.

The ‘Esso-tomt’ (Esso lot) in Kvalaberg hosted one of Stavanger’s earliest oil facilities. After the company Esso ceased operations at the site in the late 1980s, it remained fenced in for another thirty years. Over time, vegetation began reclaiming the ruins of fuel tanks. Birds found nesting places amidst lingering pollution. Life here has uniquely adapted to the site and formed a rare and uncontrolled landscape.

As part of the planning process for developing the neighbourhood, Stavanger Municipality has gathered residents’ views on the ‘Esso-tomt’. The plan is to transform this area into “Hamnevika friområde” (Hamnevika outdoor area): as the local paper framed it, “the meeting place between luxury apartments […] and older industry”.

But what even is a park? What will be demolished? What can be preserved? Should we intervene at all? Who are we? And who owns the ‘Esso-tomt’? 

A focused programme of walks, conversations, and drawing sessions will open for encounters and platforms of exchange. Activities will be free and open to everyone. Please keep in mind: the area has, by nature, limited accessibility and presents certain terrain-related risks.