Published Resources Details

Journal Article

Author
White, J.A.W.
Title
Australian offshore drilling: past, present and future
In
The APPEA Journal
Description of Work
Journal of the Australian Energy Producers
Imprint
vol. 15, no. 1, CSIRO, Canberra, 1975, pp. 141-146
Url
https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ74017
Format
pdf
Description

Full pdf not available on open access [2025-08-29].

Abstract

The Australian offshore drilling industry is now ten years old. In late 1964 the Global Marine drill-ship "Glomar III" spudded Esso's Gippsland Shelf No. 1 (later re-named Barra-conta-1); the discovery well of the Barracouta gas field. Fourteen other mobile offshore rigs have drilled wells in Australian waters, including one jack-up, four semi-submersibles and two drill-barges. Five production platforms have been built and now supply Australia with a large proportion of her oil requirements.
Water depths have ranged from 8 m (Ripple Shoals No. 1) to 388 metres (East Mermaid No. 1) and distances offshore from the mainland from 5 km (Golden Beach No. 1/1A) to 400 km (Troubadour No. 1). Wells have been drilled to depths of over 4,500 metres.

Several new techniques have been introduced including turret mooring (Discoverer II), foam drilling (Glomar Tasman) and dynamic positioning (Sedco 445). New drilling vessels under construction in Australia will provide additional offshore drilling capacity.

For the future we can expect to see larger drill-ships and semi-submersibles which will be able to continue drilling operations in adverse weather conditions. Dynamic positioning and improved conventional anchoring systems will enable the deeper waters to be explored. New equipment and techniques will probably include buoyant marine risers, sub-sea mud discharge pumps and electro-hydraulic preventer actuated systems.

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Related Archival resources

isPartOf

  • Bass Strait oil and gas records assembled by Dr Tony Krins, 1964 - 1987, BSAR03890; Krins, Anthony (Tony); Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Library. Details

EOAS ID: bib/ASBS17333.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-kooyang-season-of-eels

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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