Geobank

Core viewing and sampling

Geobank has facilities for viewing and sampling cores and cuttings. Use of these facilities must be booked well in advance.

Prices

The following prices apply for access to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate’s core viewing room/sample selection:

• 08:00-15:30 (08:00-14:45): NOK 3200 per day per room
• Outside of regular working hours: NOK 600 per hour 
• Weekend: NOK 800 per hour

Access to the facilities can also be arranged outside business hours, subject to reasonable advance agreement and staff availability.

When viewing or sampling cores and cuttings outside working hours, two Norwegian Offshore Directorate employees must be present, and the hourly rate will therefore be doubled.

All users of viewing rooms and the Geobank outside business hours must be registered in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s visitor system. Visitors must also report to the responsible Norwegian Offshore Directorate employee upon arrival and when leaving.

Application form for sampling geological material from exploration and development wells

Geological samples consist of the following types:

• Cuttings
• Conventional cores (no sidewall cores)
• Oil from discoveries and fields

Final reports for studies, results from analyses, thin sections, micropaleontological and palynological slides based on studies on the Norwegian Offshore Directorate’s geological samples must be submitted to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate within 6 months after sampling. This also applies to studies partially based on Norwegian Offshore Directorate samples.

E-mail requests for Norwegian geochemical standards (NGS)

Applications for samples from Norwegian geochemical standards (NGS) must contain:

• Applicant’s name, postal address, telephone number, email address and a contact person
• Description of normal analytical activity in the laboratory
• Description of what the NGS samples will be used for

The recipients of the NGS samples must send data from their analyses of the samples to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate for future delineation of the standard and calibration.

See our FactPages for more about lithostratigraphy.

Digital palynology

​Geobank uses the world's largest whole-slide scanner to make palynology slides accessible through Diskos. See links for more information.