VISTA has shown how research and innovation take place in a dynamic interaction, which mutually enrich each other. It was nuclear physicist and then Statoil's Deputy CEO Henrik Ager-Hanssen (1930–2004) who came up with the idea for the VISTA collaboration.
He contacted chemistry professor Otto Bastiansen (1918–1995) at the University of Oslo, where he worked with Nobel Prize winner Odd Hassel. Bastiansen had provided a report on basic research to The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, where both he and Ager-Hanssen were members. In 1985 Bastiansen became president of the Academy. A few months later VISTA became a reality.
"We will now organize research in a fundamentally different way", Otto Bastiansen stated.
This was in the infancy of the oil age, and the Norwegian Research Council had no relevant programmes. Also strongly involved in the preparatory work were director Martin Bekkeheien (1943–) and Finn Lied (1916–2014), chairman of Statoil until 1984. Lied was an engineer and Director of The Norwegian Defense Research Institute, former Minister of Industry in the 1970s for the Labor government of Trygve Bratteli and the instigator to the state-owned Statoil.
Arve Johnsen (1934–2023), Statoil's first CEO from 1972 to 1988, was also one of VISTA's central founding fathers. He was a visionary industrial leader and a pioneer in Norwegian oil history. He had been State Secretary for Finn Lied at the Industry department.
"We needed to strengthen national expertise by stimulating basic research and getting various technical environments to collaborate," Arve Johnsen explained in an interview. (The story of an exceptional partnership, 2005).
The motivation for cooperating with The Academy was Statoil's challenge of long-term management of petroleum resources on the continental shelf. For the company to succeed in securing competitiveness, it was necessary to increase knowledge about the physical processes taking place down in the reservoirs.
About that time, the company was planning its own research centre in Trondheim (established in 1993) due to the proximity to NTNU and SINTEF. However, Statoil also needed collaboration with other leading research environments in order to uncover all the factors that play a role in the most cost-effective exploration and production on the shelf.
In The Academy, Statoil found a partner with few bureaucratic obstacles and good connections to basic research environments at different science institutions.
VISTA provided a unique and strong arena for two-way dialogue between basic research across different academic fields and the company's technical expertise for the exploration of the secrets of nature. It was also important to ensure academic independence and that the research funds were not directed towards short-term industrial interests but rather were channeled into unpredictable or "narrow" areas.
– The VISTA programme thus broke with the classic silo thinking of "basic research" versus "applied research", that basic research always comes before applied research and development, says Anders Elverhøi, professor of geology at the University of Oslo.
VISTA challenged the research communities to understand nature on a large scale; about how liquid flows in rock and sand and gravel move and become a rock, how alternating ice ages have affected the distribution of the oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf, explains Anders Elverhøi.
Elverhøi has been central to VISTA for many years and was involved in several VISTA projects. In recent years, Elverhøi has worked with the Vista board and the Academy on the Vista strategy and the content of the annual Vista Day.
VISTA absolutely lived up to the expectations. The research and innovation flourished in a dynamic interaction, which mutually enriched each other. And still do.
"We earned many times what we invested in research funding. We have sown millions and harvested billions," Arve Johnsen said.
The research contributed to increased resource production. At the Statfjord field, recovery rates increased over time from an expected 48 percent to 63 percent.
Another breakthrough was seabed logging using a combination of seismic and electromagnetic waves. This method makes it possible to distinguish hydrocarbons from water and reduces the risk of drilling errors. Equinor commercialized the method, and many companies purchased the expertise.
The Snøhvit field was a breakthrough for multiphase flow, where untreated well streams were transported in a pipeline 140 kilometers from the field to the terminal at Melkøya.
Tor Ulleberg, Chief Advisor for Innovation and Scientific Collaboration at Equinor and board member of VISTA, knew Arve Johnsen from his time at SINTEF.
– The years of research efforts from several research communities, especially SINTEF, the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), and NTNU in this case made it possible to realize the Snøhvit project and Hammerfest LNG at Melkøya. Progress shows how much long-term research pays off, says Ulleberg.
The VISTA collaboration, along with other research partnerships, has played an important role in Norway's oil revenues, he states.
Broad-based basic research lifts the entire professional community and is a key factor in finding the concrete solutions that applied research seeks.
Mission impossible
The crossing of the Norwegian Trench with the Statpipe pipeline is another good example. The project was considered impossible. But the researchers continued until the project had sufficient technical safety.
"If something looks impossible, it's only a matter of time before we solve it," Arve Johnsen used to say to his colleagues.
Energy transition
The pioneer Johnsen was mildly dismissive of those who publicly questioned what Norway could do when the oil age is over, Ulleberg recalls.
"They do not understand what is happening in the industry and how dynamic it is. We will face entirely new challenges. We must think in terms of centuries," Johnsen stated in 2005.
With a continental shelf four times the size of Norway's land area, we can play a key role, Arve Johnsen believed.
Arve Johnsen remained closely tied to VISTA with his enthusiastic involvement even after stepping down as Statoil's top leader in 1988, after 15 years. In line with Johnsen's vision, Equinor has continued its long-standing cooperation with research partners.
In recent years, VISTA's focus has shifted toward energy transition reflecting the societal challenges.
– It's about using both the main beam and high beam in a car. We must continue to extract value while also looking at future profitability in renewable energy and low-carbon energy systems. That is our challenge now, Tor Ulleberg says.