Natural Gas Museum

The Natural Gas Museum was opened in 2010 by the Romgaz company to mark a century since the first commercial natural gas well in Romania. It tells the story of the country’s gas industry. The building is an attractive villa at Medias, in the largest natural gas field in the country. Natural gas was first found in 1909 while drilling for salt. In 1910 a project was begun to install a 55-km pipeline from Sărmășel to Turda, which in 1916 became the first city in Europe to have public street lighting by natural gas. In 1915, the first company in Europe devoted to natural gas exploitation was begun, Ungarische Erdgas Gesellschaft (UEG). This set the model of combining exploration, drilling, extraction, transportation and distribution of natural gas in one company. The museum displays historical photographs, examples of minerals, a model of a drilling rig, protective clothing, tools and equipment. It also holds an important library and archive.