High Cost Of Oil
p. 49 · Read in the full issue
Search
THE cost of the search for oil in Dutch New Guinea and in Papua had so far cost £27,000,000, said Mr. Harold Rabling, managing -director of the Vacuum Oil Company of Australia, in mid-April. Of the total, £7 m llion had so far been spent in Papua, the remainder in Dutch New Guinea.
So far the only oil actually being pro duced is at Klamono in Dutch New Guinea —about 4,000 barrels a day—but even under the happiest circumstances it is not expected that the investment al ready made in the area will show a profit for about four more years. Crude oil from this area is now reaching the Vacuum Oil Co’s refinery at Altona, Vic.
To date there has been no return for the £7 millions invested in oil search in Papua and no oil has been recovered but pros pects of doing so are still regarded by ex perts as excellent.