Drilling for oil on campus
Professor Mary O'Kane and Mr John Ellice-Flint, Managing Director of Santos.
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An artist's impression of the new Santos Petroleum Engineering building at ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ University.
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Friday, 8 June 2001
Is there oil 150 metres below the ground in ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ?
Of course not...
But today ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ University is using a professional rig to drill a 150-metre-deep experimental well on the University's North Terrace campus.
The well will be an important teaching tool and a feature of the new Santos School of Petroleum Engineering and Management that will open at ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ University next year.
Santos is providing $25 million over 10 years to ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ University to establish the school. This includes funding for the new building, provision for scholarships, specialised teaching equipment, and the appointment of a professorial chair, the Santos Chair. The Federal Government has also contributed $1 million to establish an additional chair, the Reg Sprigg Chair, named in honour of the late Reg Sprigg who made a significant contribution to the oil and gas industry in Australia.
The drilling operation marks the very start of construction on the school's new