Esso Gippsland Shelf No 1: Australia's First Offshore Well Drilling Report

Esso Gippsland Shelf No. 1 was Australia's first offshore well, drilled to a total depth of 8701 feet between December 1964 and June 1965. The well, drilled by Esso Exploration Australia, Inc., discovered a 353-foot gas column in the Eocene Latrobe Valley Coal Measures. This historical report documents the drilling operation, lithology, and production tests, including gas flow rates up to 6.85 MMcf/D.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical offshore drilling operations based on the detailed timeline and technical specifications provided.
• Study the stratigraphy of the Gippsland Basin based on the described Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous sections.
• Model early gas reservoir performance based on the reported flow rates and test results from the Latrobe Valley Coal Measures.
• Research the history of petroleum exploration subsidies in Australia based on the mention of the Petroleum Search Subsidy Act.

Strengths

• Provides a detailed historical account of a nationally significant event: Australia's first offshore well.
• Includes specific technical measurements, such as a total depth of 8701 feet and a gas column of 353 feet.
• Documents concrete operational results, including three production tests with quantified gas and water flow rates.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is presented in report formats (PDF, HTML); structured tabular data may not be readily available.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Historical drilling report and well completion summary.

Time Range

1964-12-27 to 1965-06-05

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 02:37:23.470168; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Gippsland Basin, approximately sixteen miles off Ninety Mile Beach, south-eastern Victoria, Australia.