Roma was the first place in Australia to discover onshore natural gas (but completely by accident!).
"Strewth, it's gas!" greeted the first major hydrocarbon discovery at Roma in Queensland in October 1900 - and heralded the beginning of Australia's oil and gas industry. The Big Rig and Rigger statue is a monument to the pioneers of Australia's oil and gas industry.
Logging Requirements
- Message the CO with the answer of the well-remembered character that The Driller statue is based on (from the plaque)?
- Take a photograph to be included in your log, and ensure the photograph has the following components:
- Your Geocaching name on a piece of paper (you / your face is optional but encouraged);
- The Driller statue; and
- The drilling rig mast is in the background.
An optional inclusion in your photo would be a safety helmet as an acknowledgement to the history - if you don't have one, then there are instructions on making one yourself below.
If you would like to learn more about the local petroleum industry and history, then you may wish to visit The Big Rig. Feel free to include additional photos to your log to show your experience.
Example photograph
Logging Requirement 2 should be something similar to this:
Optional Origami Safety Helmet Inclusion
Examples of origami hats and instructions are noted below - be adventurous and creative as you wish, or not!
This is an example of step-by-step instruction for a cap type; A3 paper allows you to wear the safety helmet, but A4 paper does the job also.
Background/context
Queensland’s first natural gas field was discovered by accident in Roma in 1900 by the Hospital Hill exploration well QG2: the first natural gas discovery in Australia.
With an annual rainfall of less than 600 mm, Roma's early residents were driven by the need for permanent water. Reservoirs to capture surface water were unsuccessful, and so, in 181, the Town Council contracted H. Maclachlan and Co. to drill for water. The initial water wellbore QG1 was not adequate, and so QG2 was drilled nearby looking for a deeper supply. When QG2 hit a depth of 1122 m on 16/10/1900, the unexpected happened, and an unknown drilled exclaimed "Strewth, it's gas!" Gas, water and mud suddenly gushed 18 m into the air. Although the gas strike caused interest in some circles, the discovery was generally uncelebrated - the Government had spent £6000 on a bore that spurted has and undrinkable water.
This gas was later used to light the street lamps of Roma for 10 days and periodically evaluated for commercial production before the 1960s. This led to Australia’s first gas pipeline connecting the Roma gas fields to Brisbane in 1969. The pipeline was a first for any Australian capital city, putting Queensland at the forefront of the gas industry.
Reference: The Register, Adelaide, SA, Saturday 2 June 1906, Page 6.
In recent history, Roma has once again pivoted to be a hydrocarbons centre, but instead coal seam gas (CSG) has been its focus. The first commercial production of CSG began in 1996 when gas from Moura’s open-cut coal mine was captured and fed into the Queensland gas pipeline heading to Gladstone. Queensland has two basins currently producing CSG – the Bowen and Surat basins.
My Personal Connection
I have worked in the oil and gas patch as my profession since leaving university, and I was part of the coal seam gas (CSG) boom whilst working in Brisbane from 2010-2013 before returning to Adelaide. It was during this time that I met my wife.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.