During this week I have had the opportunity to learn about oil in depth. There were a lot of things that I wasn’t aware of or wasn’t entirely clear about. That’s why I liked what we’ve been working on this week.

We started the week on Monday, when we worked at the university, on different basic concepts and aspects of oil. We get into issues such as what oil is, how it was created and where it is produced. We also learned about the value of oil today, its advantages and disadvantages and the environmental problems it can cause. At the same time, we also did some research on political and social issues that oil affects.

On Tuesday we had Excursion to Slagenstangen Oil Refinery. There they explained to us and showed us an oil refinery. We were able to visit one of the famous ESSO refineries in Norway, one of the largest oil industries in the country. We visited the one in Argastrand.

On Wednesday we did group work. The day was to create some presentations that we would have to present to our colleagues. Each of us chose a topic we would like to talk about and carried out research on it. (At the bottom of this page you can see the presentation).

On Thursday we had another excursion in which we visited the Coast Watch Center in Horten. There we received a very interesting talk about the work they do in this place. I think we were all shocked to know that we had a place like this so close. There, the workers showed us the different zones that the center had and how their work is distributed and organized. In my case, what caught my attention the most was the way in which they work. The fundamental thing for them is teamwork and cooperation. It was quite clear that they were very clear that without this they would not get anywhere or achieve anything. They knew that they needed each other so that everything would work correctly and achieve their objectives. They also showed us a tank full of oil. I had never seen it before, so I was also quite impressed. With a saucepan we were able to touch it and it turned out to be super thick!

This day we also explained the method of “cleaning” oil that is done when there is a spill in the sea or ocean. I have to say that I was very impressed, and I liked this explanation very much. I had never heard of how it was done and honestly, I was not either interested. Thanks to this day, I really realized how important this work is and how necessary it is. Without these people we could have serious problems and that’s something we all should know.

The last day, Friday, we had a political meeting. Different groups represented various parties such as religious, labour, right-wing or left-wing. We had some time to investigate what those parties were for or against and therefore what we would have to defend. Me, along with two other mates, represented the religious party. The debate was very interesting, and I think we all enjoyed it.

After this week I’ve learned a lot more about oil than I knew and I’m very satisfied with it. I’ve learned things I didn’t know before or thought about, and I think I’ve become more aware of the different aspects it affects. It has been fun and interesting to learn about this topic and to have the opportunity to visit the things we have done since I would not have been able to do it in Spain.

Click here to see the presentation: OIL PROJECT