Chapter 2: History of petroleum exploration and development - PIRSA

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Petroleum geology of South Australia. Vol. 4: Cooper Basin.In accordance with the instructions conveyed ... I leftAdelaide on March 21st and proceeded to Beltana, whichplace I left on the 24th, with two men and five camels,arriving at Waukaringa on April 4th, and remained until the9th, during which time I made an examination of the stratawith relation to the probability of obtaining artesian waterat the Government bore.Arriving at Thackaringa, in New South Wales, I crossedover to the Mooleulooloo Hills, and proceeded northwardto the Yandama Creek, which I followed to Milparinka,arriving there on May 2nd. Bad weather and rain detainedme at the latter place a few days, and it was not until the 7ththat I left, via the Reefs and Granite diggings, forInnamincka, arriving on the 19th. On the 22nd I travellednorthward to the North-east corner peg, and thence alongthe Queensland boundary to Pandie-Pandie station, on theDiamentina river ; then, turning southward down theDiamentina Swamp to Clifton Hills, and thence upCooper’s Creek to Innamincka, arriving there on June 16th.My return journey began on the 18th, following down theStrzelecki Creek to Mulligan Springs ; thence on toBlanchewater, Mount Lyndhurst, and Beltana, arriving atthe latter place on July 7th and Adelaide on the 10th.The chief objects of this journey were to ascertain theextensions from New South Wales into South Australia ofthe gold-bearing rocks of Mount Brown, and theCretaceous formation in which artesian and other water hasbeen found. The gold-bearing rocks were not found toextend across the border into South Australia, as far ascould be ascertained. The Flinders Ranges is the nearestpoint in this colony where rocks likely to prove auriferousoutcrop, the intervening country being covered over withCretaceous and Tertiary formations. There may, however,be some low outcrops occurring amongst the sandhills, butthis is not very likely, and they cannot exist to any greatextent. The extension of the Cretaceous and the Tertiaryarea into this colony from New South Wales andQueensland was proved along a distance of 225 miles ofboundary of the former , and 300 miles of that of the lattercolony.land tenure, including details of pastoral holdings and nativetitle claims, can be obtained from the Lands Titles Officeand the Native Title Group in the Department ofAdministrative and Information Services and the PastoralManagement Board in the Department of Environment,Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs (Figs 2.3, 2.4). Thefollowing comments on the properties and leasesparticularly associated with the region—Innamincka,Gidgealpa, Merty Merty, Tinga Tingana and CordilloDowns—have been compiled from those sources and fromDonovan and Donovan (1996).The northern portion of the Innamincka run was taken upin 1875 as Coongie Station by H. and N. Wilson.Subsequent transfers saw the run acquired by S. Kidman(later Sir Sidney Kidman) and issued under a new lease tohim in 1902. The first lease for the southern Innamincka runwas issued in 1874 to J. Becker and H. Colless and then in1882 to W. Campbell of Victoria. Between 1882 and 1886Campbell took up other leases in the surrounding area,which had been issued in 1875–78 and 1880–81 to peoplesuch as S. Newland, and formed Innamincka Station. Asmall settlement began at Innamincka where a police campat a crossing point on Cooper Creek had been established in1882: then came the building of a police station (1883), store(1884) and hotel (1885). In April 1890, 2.59 km 2 (a squareSC97/03QUEENSLAND139°30´ 141°QC96/10926°27°Henry Brown’s introduction to the report on his ‘flying visit’ toparts of the northeast, 1 August 1883 (Brown, 1883).across the Cobbler Sandhills and by following the pads ofthe camels used by Afghan and other camel drivers withwagons and coaches (Fitzpatrick, 1980; Donovan andDonovan, 1996; Wopfner, pers. comm. 1998). FromSeptember 1916, following the severe drought of 1913–15,E.R. Waite (Director of the South Australian Museum),Captain White and others travelled this route from Farinarailway station to Innamincka where they inspected Burke’sburial site (Waite et al., 1917; White, 1917; Linn, 1989).They used ‘Bullocky Jack ... an old Coongie black’ as theirguide along a flooded Cooper Creek between Innaminckaand Kanowana (Waite et al., 1917, p.410) and returned to therailway at Hergott Springs (now Marree) via Mungerannie,Kopperamanna and Killalpaninna Lutheran Mission. Thegroup investigated the meteorological, anthropological andzoological aspects of the region, noting in particular theimpact of European people and settlement (especially sheepand cattle) on the land and the Aborigines.A comprehensive summary of the origins anddevelopment of the pastoral industry in the Cooper region isbeyond the scope of this chapter. Information pertaining toSC95/04SC97/04SC95/02SC97/0197/02COOPERBASINSC98/01QC98/440 50KILOMETRES98-1107NEW SOUTH WALESFig. 2.3 Native title claims relating to the Cooper Basin at30 October 1998: claims are registered on a state basis.28°29°10
Petroleum geology of South Australia. Vol. 4: Cooper Basin.ALTON DOWNSETADUNNADULKANINNA98-1108CLIFTON HILLSLIMIT OFCOOPER BASINMUNGERANIEMULKAMURNPEOWIE0 50KILOMETRES139°30´ QUEENSLANDPANDIE PANDIEGIDGEALPATingaTinganaINNAMINCKAMERTY MERTYCORDILLODOWNSLINDONQUINYAMBIEmile) of the lease was reserved for a town named Hopetoun:the Earl of Hopetoun was Governor of Victoria (1889–95)and Australia’s first Governor-General (1901–03). But inJanuary 1892 the name Innamincka was adopted instead. AsCampbell’s leases expired between 1895 and 1897, theywere re-issued to the executors of his estate. The leases weresurrendered and re-issued in 1902 before being acquired byS. Kidman in 1908. Kidman’s estate and other parties heldthe leases from 1930 followed by the Innamincka PastoralCo. The ‘town’ was able to survive, barely. The Innaminckapastoral lease was surrendered in December 1988 (after theInnamincka Regional Reserve was formed).Cordillo Downs Station lies in the far northeast corner ofSouth Australia immediately beyond the northern extent ofthe Cooper Basin. J. Fraser (sometimes Frazer) took upCardilla [sic] Downs in about 1877 and the lease was takenup by E. Chapman in 1878. P. Waite took over the lease in1883, later transferring it to the Beltana Pastoral Co. (apartnership of Waite, Sir Thomas Elder and N.E. Phillipson,which gradually acquired control over an extensive portionof the Corner Country). After a severe drought in 1902Cadelga (once Cadelgo Downs) and Haddon Downs141°NEW SOUTH WALESFig. 2.4 Pastoral leases in the Cooper region at 30.6.1998. Theleases, including those referred to in the text, are named. Theseshould be regarded as indicative of their historic sense: the sizeand shape of most leases have changed significantly since theyoriginated late in the 19th century.26°27°28°29°Stations were added to their southern neighbour’s lease in1903 and 1905 respectively: those homesteads becameout-stations. Cadelga, on the Northern Territory border, wasfirst leased to Chapman in 1878 and it changed hands threemore times before being held by the Bank of New SouthWales from 1890 and subsequently by the Beltana PastoralCo. Haddon Downs, which adjoined the Northern Territoryand Queensland borders, was first leased to Chapman in1877 and subsequent lessees included the AustralasianMortgage Co. of Sydney. The Beltana Pastoral Co. leasedall of these properties, including that which the Bank of NewSouth Wales held between Cadelga and Haddon Downs, asCordillo Downs from 1898 to 1981 when the lease was takenover by the Brooklands Pastoral Co.In modern times a lease around Gidgealpa was taken upby H.L. Napier and J.E. Dunn as tenants in common inFebruary 1966. Dunn held the lease for 17 years from March1968. Since March 1985 P.D. Brazel and various partnershave held the lease whose southern boundaries borderedMerty Merty Station and traversed the area of Lake Moonbaand Big Lake Moonba. Merty Merty, part of the Strzeleckicountry, had been taken up by M.R. Oakes in 1919. Kidmantook it over when Oakes left in 1924 and it was subsequentlyheld by Kidman’s estate and other parties. From January1930 the lease was held by the Innamincka Pastoral Co. untilDecember 1965 when R.G. and W.E. Rieck took over thelease, which was later managed by their estate. TingaTingana Station was created in 1877 by W.C. Burkitt whocombined the land he had taken up in the mid 1870s withother lessees’ land. Burkitt occupied the run when it wasoffered for sale in 1877 but did not renew the lease when itexpired in 1889. The lease was then auctioned as four blockswith Bristow Bros securing one block for 21 years.However, this and the other unsold blocks were acquired bythe Warren family of Anna Creek in 1892 under amiscellaneous lease (a reduced rent and no deposit wasrequired for improvements upon the property). Droughtapparently caused J. Warren to abandon the lease in 1895and the run was left under various caretakers such as A. Popeand J. Patterson. In 1909 Pope moved from Innamincka topart of Tinga Tingana Station, possibly as a lessee. Fouryears later he was joined with J. Patterson to run anotherpart. They both held contracts at different times fordelivering the mail from Farina along the Strzelecki Track toInnamincka. Pope left in 1914 but Patterson remained until1937. Oakes took over some of the lease as part of MertyMerty in 1919 before abandoning it in 1924. Tinga Tinganawas not re-occupied by pastoralists until 1966 when H.P.Robertson was issued with an annual licence to graze stock.The lease was taken up in 1968 by H.F. and L.A. Robertsonwho created a new Tinga Tingana Station by combining theold one with Monte Collina Station: subsequent transferswere to Marin Investments (1972), H. and L. McIntyre(1978) and K.D. and R.P. Ogilvy (1987). The station nowforms part of the Strzelecki Regional Reserve (Fig. 3.2) andthe lease continues to be maintained pending the resolutionof native title concerns.THE EVOLVING PETROLEUM SEARCHThe early search for oil and gas in South Australia(1866–1930s) was largely confined to the populated areas orthe coastal regions of the South-East. Boring on the11
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Chapter 2: History of petroleum exploration and development - PIRSA

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