New Caledonia’S

Oil Search

Is ‘Marking Time’

From Our Own Correspondent WORK on the oil-search site at Gouraou, New Caledonia, has stopped, and it was announced in July that the company formed, with local and French capital, to conduct the search—Societe de Recherche et Exploitation du Petrole —is to be reorganised.

A geologist borrowed from a large French oil company is to make a photo-geological study, and about September a geologist of international status, M. Trumpy, will study the results of all the surveys.

The departure from Noumea of M. Rene Pomeyrol, former head of the search, has been followed by a statement by M. Pomeyrol in Paris, in which he maintains that the direction of the work was taken out of his hands at a time when the Gouraou operations were confirming the optimistic tone of his original report.

M. Pomeyrol was sent to New Caledonia in 1946 by the Bureau de Recherches de Petrole (BRP).

After two years’ exploration, he reported that the most promising

place to start serious drilling was Gouraou, on the west coast near Bourail.

IN 1953 a company was formed at Noumea with a capital of 10,000,000 francs. BRP held 65 per cent, of the stock, the NC Government 15 per cent.

and private Investors 20 per cent M. Pomeyrol’s services were placed at the disposal of the company.

In his Paris statement he says that he was assigned to look for oil with an absurdly small capital Arrangements had to be made with the Overall McCray Co., Sydney, to send equipment and a crew to do

US Ceremony

in Tahiti

Mr. Daniel W. Mon tenegro, American Consul for South Pacific

Territories, visiting

Papeete, laid a wreath on the obelisk at the American section of Paurani Cemetery on Remembrance Day.

Later, according to custom, he went outside the harbour in the American yacht "Mareva", which hap pened to he in port, to drop another wreath on the sea.

the drilling, and the £40.000 contract stipulated a total drilling of 8.000 ft divided into four wells of 2.000 ft. 4 BRP gave instructions that drilling should be started at Koumac, in the far north of the island, where oil seepage had been noted. This was against the advice of M. Pomeyrol and was regarded as unwise by Mr. Owen, the Australian geologist. Four wells were sunk and the result confirmed M Pomeyrol’s opinion that there was only a superficial deposit, degraded and of no economic value.

In February, 1954, M. Pomeyrol continues, the local company asked him to concentrate on the Gouraou site, and the transfer was made without waiting for BRP’s consent, which was given later. Drilling started in March but was stopped at the end of April because of shortage of capital.

DESPITE promising indications at Gouraou, BRP ordered ‘conservative measures,” which included the termination of the drilling contract, the dismantling of the equipment and the repatria tion of the Australian crew. BRP said it was necessary to mark time before moving to another stage of the search.

The death of the company’s president at Noumea was followed hv the appointment of a president at Paris. The head of the Govern

ment Mining Bureau at Noumea was made assistant to the new president and was put in charge of the work.

M. Pomeyrol adds that it was onlv a few days before his departure from Noumea for Paris that he learned that he had been relieved of the direction.

v A sanctuary lamp, given by St.

Thomas’s Anglican Ladies’ Guild, Toowoomba, Queensland, has been sent to New Guinea for the John Barge Memorial Church. The Rev, John Barge, who was murdered by the Japanese, was vicar of St.

Thomas’s Church before going to New Guinea.