Petroleum Developments in Australia and Oceania in 1972

The most significant areas of exploration drilling and development were the offshore northwest shelf of Western Australia, and continued development drilling in the Bass basin of Victoria in southeast Australia. Onshore, the most active area was the Cooper basin of South Australia where several gas-bearing structures were discovered. Overall, drilling activity in Australia in 1972 was up about 25% relative to 1971 primarily because of increased offshore drilling. In Oceania, there were continued geophysical surveys, with some of the more important effort being that of the Amoco group in the Goodenough Island area between New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This work is believed to have defined a potential drilling target for 1973. There was no significant follow-on to the 1971 drilling done in Tonga, northeast of New Zealand.