Per Daling himself has just returned from Stavanger where he has been giving seminars on oil-spill contingency planning. He does not even have time to unpack before he has to take off again. Daling exclaims as he places two glass jars on the table. When Daling shakes the jar, the oil is quickly broken up in tiny drops that disperse in the water. The other jar with oil from the Veslefrikk field contains a lump of highly viscous material much like chocolate mousse.
Nothing happens to it when the jar is shaken.
We are studying and testing various types of oil for oil companies and government agencies in Norway and abroad. Oil from new fields can have very distinct properties. It is important to study the likely behaviour of the specific oil at sea before the oil fields begin producing. For nearly 20 years, Daling has studied oil spills and helped develop ways of dealing with them. The department employs about 30 people with different backgrounds, including biology, chemistry and modelling.