With the rise of electric vehicles, Norwegians are ever less dependent on petrol stations. The country’s main newspaper takes a trip down memory highway.
There was a time when Norway’s petrol stations were more than just places to fill up the tank: they were landmarks where travelers could grab a bite or stop to chat on long stretches of road. But that era is coming to a close. According to Norway’s biggest selling newspaper Aftenposten, hundreds of the country’s staffed petrol stations have closed in recent decades — a shift that reflects changes in travel and technology.
The newspaper feature opens with a strange anecdote about a man called Finn Ståle Myhre, who in the 1990s bought an old petrol station and café in Hølen, just off what used to be the main Oslo-to-Sweden route. Myhre transformed the building into a furniture shop and hamburger bar, but often slept on the premises to protect it from thieves who targeted the area. One night in 1994, a gang broke in by driving a car through his window. Myhre, who had been sleeping naked, pursued them wielding a baseball bat.
That story doesn’t have much to do with travel habits, admittedly, but it’s a striking opening to the piece and it shows how areas by highways were once a place of action — even if farcical and illegal — in contrast to today. In Norway many staffed stations have shut down entirely or been replaced by larger, more centralised outlets that fewer people visit. The report cites statistics that show a dramatic decline in petrol station employment — from just over 12,000 jobs in 2013 to under 8,300 in 2023, a drop of around 32%. Young people in rural areas are especially affected, with more than half of service-industry jobs historically held by those under 25.
Aftenposten gives three main reasons for this decline: Cars today, even petrol-powered, are more fuel-efficient and can travel longer distances between stops. Stations themselves have meanwhile grown larger, consolidating pumps and customer facilities into fewer locations that are more efficient for operators. And, crucially, petrol and diesel consumption is decreasing as electric vehicles become more common. (Most EV charging already happens at home rather than at roadside stations.)
The newspaper visited a handful of defunct petrol stations. One site is now a tyre and car sales lot. A former BP station houses a grocery store selling fruit, veg and imported goods — the owner of which fears for the business’s future. Yet another has been transformed into a garage and vehicle rental business. Still more sites stand empty, awaiting their next incarnation. Myhre, who converted a petrol station into a furniture shop in the 1990s, has been forced to adapt again after a rerouting of the nearby highway drastically cut traffic passing his premises. Myhre’s furniture business now exists mostly online, and the physical building is open only a few hours a week, although he still runs a nearby campsite.
With just a touch of nostalgia for a more diesel-scented time, the feature concludes: “Only the foundations of the gas pumps are visible in the asphalt today”.
The original article by Øyvind Nordli and with photos by Paal Audestad ‘Tyvene kjørte gjennom Finn Ståle Myhres vindu. Så konfronterte han dem – kliss naken,’ was first published in Norwegian on December 14, 2025.
It available here.
Aftenposten has been based in Oslo since 1860 and is Norway’s main printed newspaper by circulation.
Summary by TM
