Paris' Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie science center is staging a six-month exhibition, designed in partnership with French oil company Total, to improve public perceptions of the oil industry. "Oil, New Challenges," the second featured exhibition in the center's "Managing the Planet" program, showcases some of the industry's technical achievements in exploration and production. It also aims to raise awareness of the difficulties involved in sustaining and sharing energy resources on a global scale.
null
The 1,000-sq-m exhibition, which opened mid-February, comprises a five-part presentation on two floors giving a run-through of all aspects of E&P. The first level is dedicated to subsurface and geological displays, while the upper level covers surface and production techniques. "Journey to the Land of Oil" sets out the processes that led to formation of oil and gas deposits over millions of years, via a combination of sedimentary samples, models, photos, hands-on exhibits, and multi-media presentations.
Visitors are also directed through three different regions to learn about non-conventional oilfield extraction techniques, including the Syncor project processing heavy crude from Venezuela's Orinoco oil belt. The "North Sea Story" explains the problems overcome by engineers on Total's high pressure, high temperature gas-condensate development, Elgin & Franklin. Another recent Total achievement, the deepwater Girassol project, is highlighted in "Rendezvous in Angola."
Total's joint R&D with French oceanographic institute Ifremer is displayed using a model of the Victor ROV, alongside the results of a deepwater seismic survey. This display reveals a food chain of marine organisms that has developed around natural methane seeps, a reminder to possibly skeptical high school students that hydrocarbons are also organic materials. The climax of the exhibition, "Constantly Growing Energy Demand," features sections of pipes and stacks from barrels, with columns alongside listing a variety of environmental, ethical, and political issues arising from oil and gas exploitation.
