driller strikes oil in dalkeith

Looks like Burnsey hasn't lost his luck with the drill bit! From the Western Suburbs Post (Perth local rag)-


"Driller strikes oil in Dalkeith

Alan Burns was drilling for a bore in the wilds of Dalkeith when up from the ground came black gold, Texas tea.

But the find in Mr Burns’ front yard in Victoria Avenue won’t change his life, unlike the Beverly Hillbillies TV characters who struck oil on their property.

“There is nothing to worry about” he assured his neighbours.

“The likelihood of it having commercial value is slim.”

And Mr Burns should know – he is a 35 year veteran of the oil and gas industry and one of the businessmen with an interest in oil reserves off Rottnest.

Mr Burns was overseas when workers drilling a 21m bore on the block where he is building a new home made the find.

“I was highly amused” he said.

He said that in Paris oil was pumped, inside buildings, from the Paris basin.

“About 4000 holes have been drilled around Perth – it is pretty rare to find oil” he said.

“People do not need to be alarmed. Luckily it was found by an oilman who knows what to do about it.”

Mr Burns said the leak would be plugged with cement, and water from the bore would not be affected.

Mr Burns is a pioneer in the WA oil and gas industry.

In the early 1970s he established the first WA oil company, Stirling Petroleum, and funded the first WA offshore oil well, Bruce No.1, on the North-West shelf.

During the 1970s, Mr Burns controlled a group of oil companies and had the biggest acreage in Australia, rivalling Woodside and the then West Australian Petroleum (WAPET).

Recently, he has been involved in a major oil discovery in Africa with Hardman Resources."




Despite the plug and abandon notice, word on the street is that he has farmed out 49% to Woodside and will be free carried for the first three exploration wells.