Summary

Bottle containing crude oil sample from Barracouta Well, Bass Strait, Victoria, circa 1965-1969.

Exploration drilling for oil & gas resources in the sediments under the waters of Bass Strait commenced in the mid-1960s under a joint venture between BHP and Esso Standard Oil (Australia) Pty Ltd. On 27th December 1964, the drilling ship Glomar III 'spudded' in the first 'wild cat' exploration well, which struck natural gas on 18th February 1965, at a depth of 1,318 metres. Esso's Gippsland Shelf No.1 Well (later re-named Barra-couta-1), became the discovery well of the Barracouta natural gas field, which was confirmed by June 1965 as a major commercial discovery. Further drilling by Glomar III led to the discovery of the Marlin gas field the following year, from which at 10.47am on 14th March, Esso gained it first indication of the real prize - with a commercial grade flow of crude oil. It was the first confirmed discovery of offshore oil deposits in Australian waters. The Barracouta (BTA) oil & gas production platform located in 46 m of water approximately 23 km off the Gippsland coast was commissioned in 1969. By 2002, the Esso/BHP Joint venture had developed 21 offshore platforms connected to onshore facilities through a 600 km network of underwater pipelines, producing more than 3.5 billion barrels (556,000 million litres) of crude oil and 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The original source of this oil sample is unknown, however, is was probably acquired from either BHP Petroleum or Esso Australia Pty Ltd (the two Bass Strait joint venture partners), around the time of the temporary exhibition "The Oil and Natural Gas Story", which was presented by the Science Museum, in Palmer Hall, at the former Swanston Street museum between November 1973 and March 1974.

Physical Description

Oval based glass bottle with black plastic lid and paper label on front. With dark brown liquid inside.

More Information

  • Collecting Areas

    Engineering

  • Acquisition Information

    Unknown Acquisition Method from Unknown Source

  • Inscriptions

    On lable: CRUDE OIL / FROM / BARRACOUTA / WELL / BASS STRAIT. Base of bottle stamped: 8 / A[?] / M / 1199

  • Classification

    Mining & metallurgy, Production & processing - oil & gas, Oil samples

  • Category

    History & Technology

  • Discipline

    Technology

  • Type of item

    Object

  • Object Dimensions

    82 mm (Width), 61 mm (Depth), 201 mm (Height)
    Product almost fills bottle.

  • References

    '- "The Oil and Natural Gas Story". - This temporary exhibition is the largest ever set up in the Science Museum, occupying the whole of the Palmer Hall. It was designed and installed by the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd ., and ran from late November 1973 until the end of March 1974. It included a most comprehensive coverage of the Bass Strait oil and gas developments, with sections on the formation of petroleum, exploration methods, development of a producing field , the extraction and processing of oil and gas, the range of petroleum products usage and the future trends of the oil search program. The display included some particularly fine models of drilling rigs, offshore wells, etc., and numerous animated and Technamation panels to reveal process details in easily understood form. The exhibition was officially opened by Sir Ian McLennan, Chairman and Director of Administration of B.H.P. Ltd. His remarks at the opening ceremony included comments and predictions of fast approaching petroleum supply problems which, at the time of preparing this Report, had proved to be prophetic.' [SMV Report of Activities, 1973-74, pp.10-11]
    [Other] Science Museum of Victoria, Report of Activities (Annual Report)., 1973-74, pp.10-11 Pages

  • Keywords

    Oil Wells, Oils