Mw Phase In Oil
p. 125 · Read in the full issue
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pua’s Peculiar Formation Has Been Beaten
USTRALASIAN Petroleum Co. . Pty., Ltd., in its January pro gress report announces that horo No. 2 has reached a depth of 82 feet and has landed 6iths inch ■ing at 9,973 feet (nearly 2 miles).
Behind this bald statement lies storv of effort and achievement. •. Pym (general manager of the npany) says that not only is this 5 greatest depth to which casing s been inserted in Australian •ritory, but it is also the first :asion that the squeezing mud mes of Papua have been con ered. rhese squeezing mudstones —soft, consolidated formations in a ?hly unstable condition, resulting im composition affected by in ise earth movement —extend along e coastal region of Papua from e vicinity of Popo to the eastern ge of the Delta, and probably ,ve been a far greater factor in tarding the search for oil than fficult jungle or swamp conditions id poor communications.
Since 1913, many attempts have en made by different organisa ms to penetrate these formations, it without success. It was not itil 1949 that this structure ore conclusively tested, when APC it down a hole to 5,356 feet. Its ■st test had to be abandoned.
A second test was begun in jbruary, 1951, and had reached the cinity of 10,000 feet by December.
This success, achieved in the same dremely difficult conditions, can ; attributed to the experience lined by the drilling crew in mdling these formations, and to le use of special mud-circulating jids designed to consolidate the alls of the hole.
Some idea of the tremendous fort necessary to reach 10,000 feet i these difficult formations may be ithered from the following; Some > whites and 300 native labour are sing employed on the drilling site, i was necessary to land about 2,000 ms of material, including the rilling outfit, workshop, transport, uildings for staff and labour, be >re drilling could commence. In ie actual drilling of the hole, 3,600 ms of mud chemicals, mainly arytes, have been used. About 375 ms of steel have been put into the ole in the form of casing, and ,000 tons of fuel have been con- Limed by the rig engines. The on ite cost of the 10 months’ drilling ; around £500,000.
Mr. Pym stated that, having jolated the upper squeezing fil iations by casing, the hole is now a good shape to drill several housand additional feet to explore ower formations.