Drilling for Oil Begins at Mangaone

The B.P., Shell and Todd Petroleum Development Company's bid to find oil on the East Coast got away to a dramatic start in the remote and almost inaccessible Mangaone Valley one day early this month.

Guests invited to the function, along with newspaper and magazine representatives, had to be hauled into the remote drilling site by relavs of Land Rovers, ploughing through eight miles of mud and slush.

They gained the drilling site by crossing the swollen Mangaone River on a plank bridge nailed to a tree trunk.

There they found all the heavy and complicated machinery of a modern drilling plant, topped by the imposing rig towering 160 feet into the sky.

It seemed impossible for the company and its contractors to have brought in so much heavy machinery over what is little more than a clay track, but the job had been done without mishap.

Assembled Guests At The Mangaone "Spudding-In" Ceremony, Standing On A Wooden Mat In The Mud-Covered, Flood-Swept Mangaone Valley, Hear The Minister Of Mines, Mr Hackett, Wish The Venture Every Success.

Mr L. G. Hucks, chairman of directors of B.P., Shell and Todd, and Mr Hackett watch as the drill shaft (left) revolves. Behind them is Drilling Superintendent Mr R. W. Ambrose.

Mr Hackett speaking at the opening ceremony.

As newscameramen close in, Mr Hackett says a few words before pressing the switch which set the big diesel motors turning. A few minutes later the drill had started on its two-mile trip into the earth.

While a National Film Unit cameraman records the scene, Land Rovers struggle in the deep mud on the tortuous and narrow road up the valley.

Looking across the Mangaone River to the drilling rig, the lower portion of which can be seen.

As jeeps and a breakdown wagon mix in muddy confusion near the end of the road, guests get out and walk to site.

Mr Hucks speaking at the opening ceremony. He expressed the hope that Mangaone would be as successful as the company's well at Kapuni, in Taranaki.

Mr J. R. Marshall, deputy-leader of the Opposition, Mr J. S. Battersby, Public Relations Officer for B. P. New Zealand Ltd., and R. A. Wall, the driller at the opening ceremony, photographed as drilling machinery is adjusted after "spudding in".

During his address, the Minister revealed that Mangaone had already cost the company £500,000, and it would cost another £1500 for every day that drilling was in progress.

Mr Hucks and Mr Ambrose draw aside from the crowd to discuss a point as they watch the drill working.

Looking up the rig from the drilling platform to the travelling block and swivel.

Visitors inspect pumping plant at drilling site

Driller for the "spudding in", R. A. Wall, poses with the "bit"

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The Gisborne Photo News

No 71 : May 19, 1960

Drilling for Oil Begins at Mangaone