U. S. directors view Rundle project

Press, 24 June 1981, Page 24

U. S. directors view Rundle project

PA Brisbane American Exxon Oil company directors are expected to hold a board meeting at the Sydney Opera House today after inspecting the $4OOO million Rundle Oil shale project in central Queensland yesterday. A spokesman for Esso — Exxon’s Australian subsidiary — said that the Exxon directors would then fly to Sale in Victoria to inspect Esso's Bass Strait oil operations.

An Esso executive said that the Exxon directors were also due to meet the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) but the meeting had been cancelled because of Mr Fraser's scheduled overseas visit later this week.

The Esso spokesman said the Exxon directors would hold a news conference in Sydney on Friday but, he added, there would be no announcements on the Rundle project.

Queensland's Premier (Mr Bjelke-Petersen) and the State Mines and Energy Minister (Mr Gibbs) yesterday joined Exxon's chairman (Mr Clifton Garvin) and his directors on a helicopter inspection tour of Rundle. Central and Southern Pacific’s chairman (Mr lan McFarlane) — whose companies are partners in the project — also joined the tour as djd the Esso Australia chairman (Mr Jim Kirk).

Mr Bjelke-Petersen said later that Exxon had stepped up its research into technology for extracting oil from shale and could scrap plans for a costly pilot plant and go straight into commercial production. The Premier said everything hinged on satisfactory extraction technology being developed, and that tests were continuing on it around the world.

He said that long term prospects for the project

were bright, but would set no timetable for the project, saying it was for the companies involved to work out the time schedule.