[?]He Experts

Letter to the Editor

Fight It

[?]Ut On Puri

recent article in PIM, by G. A. V. Stanley, former : geologist, and later consul for Australasian Petroleum

>any in P-NG, brought this

from a critic, who is another

mown expert on the subject

puan oil.

—The contribution to the De r Pacific Islands Monthly, an Oil Strike Could Have 20 Years Ago”, by Mr. G. A. V. ;y, which purports to give the of the discovery of Puri, has ly come to my notice, nd it essential to bring to attention that Mr. Stanley’s it, as far as the circumstances mding initial recognition and ng of the Puri Anticline are •ned, is in greater part lary. the light of comparison be- Mr. Stanley’s legendary story 3 discovery of the Puri An and actual events, I find it erest to note that in the first nent of his “Short History of Guinea”, currently appearing ial form in the South Pacific Port Moresby, Mr. Stanley ims the title of historian, i of straight history, Mr. ;y errs, for it was in August, not 1910, that Mr. L. Lett reported the finding of oil near the Vailala, a few weeks usly.

From the Records

ing Mr. Stanley’s story im, actual events were: Ir. (now Professor) S. Warren was not the only true dis ;r of the structure. He was ipanied by Mr. J. C. Pratt, a Canadian geologist not g experience, when, in early ary, 1937, in the course of a te exploratory traverse be the upper Era River and the i River, they observed a well 'd arch of appreciable size, tig the Puri River, the core lich exposed several hundred )f Miocene limestone, s discovery was reported to y Carey immediately on his i to Base Camp about Feb -12, 1937. bin the same period Mr. . Wilson and myself crossed lastward continuation of the fold, the Puri Anticline, some or eight miles to the east ri Creek; but some days later

than the arch and limestone ex posure on that stream had been observed by Carey and Pratt. 2. Mr. Carey was not attracted to the foregoing discovery by prior discovery of one of the large gas emanations on the Puri fold, as Mr. Stanley relates.

In fact, no indication of petroleum had been observed by any of the five geologists engaged in mapping the region under my leadership, until March 13, 1937, when, in the course of a scout re connaissance up the Era River, west of Puri Creek, accompanied by S. W. Carey, I happened to note on a pebble bank a boulder of sandstone of particular appearance, which on breaking, I found to be lightly impregnated with petroleum as anticipated.

On the return journey (March 15), when examining an outcrop near the crestal belt of the Puri Anticline for micro-fossils I drew Carey’s attention to a faint odour of petroleum and almost immedi ately afterwards, when canoeing in midstream, detected further odours in the atmosphere.

A Precious Blowhole Upon directing the canoe to an adjacent exposure in the river bank, it was found to carry thin sandy beds richly impregnated and slowly oozing oil.

The first observation of a gas emanation audible for several

hundred feet was not made until towards the end of March, 1937, when, inspecting work which had been carried out several miles to the east of Puri Creek by Messrs.

J. C. Pratt and N. Pratt, M.Sc,, I was guided by a native labourer, formerly with the Pratts when mapping the vicinity, together with the Pratts, to a dry vent in the bank of a small creek, audible at some distance and capable of maintaining a flame some eight feet in height.

The native labourer had disclosed its existence to me some days previously but only reluctantly after I had learnt of “talk” among the labour.

Although in close proximity to a camp occupied for several days by the Pratts, this vent had escaped their detection; likewise a number of smaller emanations, some carry ing a little oil, even closer to their camp, where odours had been noted but ascribed to the spilling of a tin of kerosene when pitching the camp.

As the abovementioned gas emanation differs appreciably from that described by Mr. Stanley, I must assume he credits S. W.

Carey with the finding of another and larger gas emanation, which was, in fact, first observed by an Australasian Petroleum Company geologist several years later.

I doubt that S. W. Carey has even seen either of these gas vents, for in 1937 he had no opportunity

cannot recollect when he have had one since.

Mr. Stanley’s account of ; telegraphic recommendation Search Limited fo_’ the im e drilling of th. . uri Anti md the various reactions in r , is true only insofar as in exchange did take place first quarter of 1936, when 1 Search Limited activities onfined to the Sepik District Territory of New Guinea, structure in which District concerned. In any case, Mr. /’s version is incorrect in respects. /ill be clear from the fore account, I was in the field rge throughout the explora f the Era River-Puri region [ Search geologists and all inications reporting on pro )r carrying recommendations, sre from myself direct to the Ir. W. A. Freeman, then lan of Oil Search Limited: . F. Griffin, the Managing )r, being at that time over only communications Mr. could have had with Oil Limited would have been on al matters and have passed h my hands in the first as his Chief. bermore, the late Mr. E L. died on December 25, 1936: ition of Permit No. 5 by Oil geologists under my direc :d not commence until Jan 1, 1937, and, as recounted the Puri Anticline was not until early February, 1937. (

Main Objective

lay, 1937, Oil Search geolog- Papua proceeded on to the objective, namely, the geo reconnaissance mapping of arch Limited Permit No. 5, had been initiated on the iver in January, 1937; the During region having been i by myself as that most 0 yield an intelligible account stratigraphic succession in n Papua, to then practically vn. une, 193 r t " W. Carey took ; Geologisc-m-Charge, 1 Search Limited ana circa [uly/early August, 1937, I a long overdue visit of in n of the work in the Sepik t which had been pro ed for Mr. Stanley and party, be foregoing I have not de . on memory or recollection, .ve written it with copies of Dry Reports submitted to the iry, Department of Lands, and Surveys, Port Moresby, ■y/June, 1937, on behalf of earch Limited (and corre nce with the late Mr. W. A. a,n) at hand. Some of this it least, was available to Mr. y in 1951/52. i not propose to enter into s why the Puri Anticline was

not selected for drilling until the present decade, nor do I propose to discuss Mr. Stanley’s contribution to your journal further, since to do so would entail disclosing matters confidential to the company by whom I was formerly employed.

Yours,

J. N. Montgomery,

Mt. Eliza, Victoria, Australia.

Mr. Stanley's Reply

A copy of Mr. Montgomery’s letter vms handed to Mr. Stanley in Port Moresby on January 21 and Mr.

Stanley wrote this reply: I AM terribly sorry that my article on Puri, in the December issue, has so upset my old friend and former colleague, Mr. J. M. Mont gomery, now at last in retirement

in Victoria. None is in a better position than he to know the facts of the search for oil in Papua and New Guinea, in which he first took part (I hope I’m right) during 1917.

As he truly says, I’m no historian.

Henry Ford I is supposed to have remarked, “History’s bunk”. More recently a British peer (Viscount Tempiewood, better known as Duff Cooper, who married a famous beauty, ijady Diana Manners —I do hope I’m right, for “Monty” knows his Debrett as well as he knows his geology) wrote his memoirs entitled Old Men Forget, probably to prove that he wasn’t old yet.

Napoleon’s account of the Water loo campaign, written at St. Helena without benefit of access to the records, proves that he’d have won the last battle if Wellington had not, v/ith gross stupidity, neglected to

re that he had a line of retreat light), and therefore had to slog it, until, at dusk, the French n to break. id I suppose that if the writ of the Venerable Bede were lined very carefully, errors and sions could be found, which been carried on into the o-Saxon Chronicle, compiled in late 9th Century: and so the ,m of history is vitiated.

irrections —and More Dates

“11, I confess my own errors and sions, and am grateful to be right by Mr. Montgomery, i doing some research, I find it was Garnet A. Thomas, and his partner, Lewis Lett, who led the discovery of a gas ig near Opa Village in August, and another (August 28, 1911) ;he east bank of the Vailala r, 3 miles above Akauda Village. *. Thomas’ actual letter report the finds was made to the est Warden, J. P. Hennelly, RM, lerema, and is dated September 11. But in a letter to the Gov lent Secretary, dated November .911, E. McGowan claims that ras he and his partner (H. ison) who found the gas shows Opa, in June, and that he tioned the fact to Messrs, nas, Lett and others, it 1911 it was, and not 1910, as st wrote. Peccavi. llowing Mr. Montgomery’s cor ons seriatim, I offer the follow explanations : In referring to Messrs. J. C. t, Norman Pratt, W. P. Wilson K. Mackinnon as Carey’s “other lanions”, I had no intention of g them out of any credit due he discovery of Puri; but I in’t remember all their initials, precisely who accompanied n on the several field trips h the six geologists made, more sss simultaneously, from their on the Era River.

"Puri Is An Oilfield"

Well, apparently, I was quite id-up about the actual sequence vents connected with the dis ry of the big gas-blows at the ;rn end of the Puri culmination, ig March, 1937. It just goes to r how fallible one can be when ng on memory alone, still have a strong recollection eing told by Carey of how he erly lit the big “blow” by means lighted paper tied to the end long pole—but I must be mis n.

Well, well—wrong again! And y badly, this time. Of course, Durse, it was the Maimai Dome, :he Sepik District, to which ;y’s telegram to E. L. Walter :red. My deepest apologies to all erned, including you, Mr. Editor, it, thanks to Mr. Montgomery, ast we have in print the true es of all these interesting hi nts.

To conclude: When I wrote the article, I did not, of course, enjoy Mr. Montgomery’s advantages in having at hand copies of the Statutory Reports and other docunfn n i S ',«7 ermg ‘ 6 Pen ° d JanUary JU e ’

But it cannot be gainsaid that Puri could have been discovered 20

Parted* on alone, usfng the tactfcs

developed by the late E. L. Walter.

And I persist in claiming that Puri is an oilfield and that it is bigger than anyone yet realises. And that was the point of my article.

I am, etc.,

G. A. V. Stanley.

Port Moresby.