N.Z. onshore oil hunt premature—scientist

Press, 7 March 1978, Page 1

N.Z. onshore oil hunt premature—scientist

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CEDRIC MENTIPLAY

The view that New Zealand is not ready to embark on any onshore oil exploration programme is still held by Mr R. B. Ragon, a geophysicist sent to New Zealand in November by Lawrence Allison and Associates Corporation, of Texas. Mr Ragon, Canadianborn but a United States citizen, was dismissed by the corporation and told to leave New Zealand not later than January 25. According to the Immigration Department, Mr Ragon is expected to leave next Thursday, unless the department has advice that for medical or other reasons it is not advisable for him to do so. No reasons for his dismissal have been made public. Asked the reason, Mr Ragon said: “It is primarily because I am honest, capable, truthful, industrious, and they can’t stand it.”

Enlarging on his view that the onshore oil search in Taranaki was premature, he says that this is also the view of the New Zealand Geological Survey, and of individual officers. “I have maintained, and I repeat, that drilling locations are not being selected with anything resembling proper forethought and care, and I am horrified and aghast at all these capital investments and expenditures,” Mr Ragon told me. “This is a disgraceful, appalling mess about which the taxpayer has the right to know,” he said. Mr Ragon surmises that the operations manager of offshore mining (Mr O. C. Reidrich), who has been in New Zealand more than three years, has the confidence of the New Zealand officers and the Minister of Energy Resources (Mr Gair), but he suggests that Mr Riedrich’s competence is as a driller, rather than as a geologist. “How to drill holes is one thing,” Mr Ragon said.

“Where to drill them is another line of country. He brought me in to advise on where to drill. Then there is the geolyogist, John Harrison.”

[Note: Mr J. Harrison is designated as chief petroleum geologist, Robertson Research, Australia, Proprietary, Ltd.] Mr Ragon continued: “John and I really are (were) the key to oil exploration. I as geophysicist take direction, tutelage, guidance from the geologist. He has to fill me in on what areas are of interest. He has to brief me on the geology, what structures might be of value. Then I, as a geophysicist, determine what is to be done.” Mr Ragon is adamant that the first thing he has to do on coming to an assignment is be thoroughly briefed on the geology and to analyse all data. He says that before leaving the United States he asked for data, but received none. He had a conference with Mr Harrison soon after arriving on November 5.

His ‘main complaint is that the data had not been correlated. He had his doubts then, and expressed them, about the proposed starting date of January 23. The Geological Survey had produced a map that looked good, and there seemed to

be considerable expertise relating to Taranaki, he said. But there was very little data, and what there was, was slow in coming and incomplete. “I should have been working on this stuff a year ago,” Mr Ragon said. “It wasn’t all together when I left.” Then about November 15 he was asked to furnish the programme for the first two months work by December 1.

“1 think I did as good a job as could humanly be expected,” Mr Ragon 'said. “I kept one eye on the Robertson Research report, listened to advice, studied what data there was, and added some Kentucky windage, and produced a programme.”

His last reflection: “I was a year behind when I got off the plane and never did catch up. It was a complete administrative muddle.”