John

I am a little confused, the only drilling in the FI that I know about took place in 1998 by Desire Petroleum, the company who are there now. Which drilling are you referring to in 1982?

Mmmmm ...

..... The oil issue is not new, but I still firmly believe that the exploration done 6-9 months before the FI invasion was more than coincidental. The rig found substantial reserves when drilling (with Argentine workers on the rig) and then left to work with us in the Bass Strait. After the Pacific crossing we flew to take off the transit crew (including Argentinians) near Eden, NSW, on the very day of the invasion. The silence on the find at the time was more telling than if it had been well publicised......


John ..... I remember that being talked about at the time too ..... but was not sure of where the info had come from .....


We (?) were flying to the, I think "Ocean Digger" at the time ... which rig you were going to I just can't remember .... fun and games at Welshpool tho ...

Long time ago ........ ;)

There may well have been oil exploration drilling operations in Argentine territorial waters just prior to the Falklands War but there was certainly not any in Falklands waters (using current UK/Falkland definitions of Territiorial waters....)

falklands oil
 

My stepson was looking at a map of the world, and asked me how we came to own a country that was so far away from us. The only reply i could give was that we stole it years ago. Did i give him the correct answer?

Did he skip his history lessons then? :confused:

falklands oil
 

He is only seven.

Ah. Maybe time for a history lesson then. You could show him an old atlas. One of the ones with all of the pink on it. :ok:

The rig was the Diamond M Epoch: it's far too long ago to remember the details told to me, but it was drilling between Argentina and the FI in mid to late 1981. Certainly in disputed territorial waters, and IIRC drilling for either BP or Shell. The Epoch arrived in Australian waters after completing the drill programme and transiting the South Pacific in April 1982.

Mmmm ......


Arrrrr YES .... Diamond M Epoch ...... it all comes back ...... (sort off?) Ha Ha


:}

Going OT, what happened to the long haired layabout with you at Welshpool? I do remember arriving through the mist one Sunday to find him a tad discombobulated 'cos he'd told your client no-one was flying in such terrible weather ;)

Which cleared up 5 minutes later :p

Mmmm ...

You mean ... "Arfur Bl....ll" with the finger nails of a fakir (might have spelt that wrong :E) ...... no idea ...

Alan Styles ... in Canada .... still flying I understand ...

All the rest ?????


:}

I remember flying the 212 for Commercial Helicopters to the Diamond M from Welshpool. Also remember being called out one night to look for some one who fell from the drilling deck & disappeared, 2 hours at 50 feet produced no result sadly. Also remember when after shutting down on the rig, 1 engine wouldn't start, so the pilot flew back without pax to Welshpool on 1. CASA complained. He pointed out no one worried flying a 205 in Vietnam on 1 engine. CASA suspends license!! No sense of humour!:ok:

Mmmm ....


Arrrr .... that would have been the very famous .... "Reg Trewenack sense of humour" failure ..... always showed up when somebody else was telling the jokes!


:}

Musta been a clash of personalities going on there Nigel, or some pay back. In the same era they (him) had no problems with a 76 single engine rig take off and return to home. Sikorsky would even give approval for the procedure if asked, though not sure if it was gained in this case.

Brian
I think the 76 flies better on one engine than the 212. The rig was 100 nm out to sea, so it took over 1 hour. The main problem was on getting airborne he said he was on 1 engine, not 2, & so Melbourne thought he had an engine failure & put a phase on him. He didn't know they had, so he didn't cancel it or send in a report.

Arthur joined Bristow on the North Sea & became a 10,000 hour plus co-pilot from which he retired to Perth & became a courier driver, much the same job really!

I think Alan got fired from Commercial Helicopters for letting Bill W punch him in the Wyndham pub!

Oh happy days!!:ok:

Mmmmm ...


Far as I know they all went their separate ways after Comm Av ceased to trade in late ... 1985.

Alan S wet to Abu Dhabi ... then Canada,

Nick Ross as we all know went to Ch 9 Sydney and then Kerry Packer ...

Ted Munday .... ?? (back to Indonesia?).

Wally W ... freelanced in Oz ...then I believe he returned to NC USA ... now well retired.

Alain Le Lec "Pussy Cat" retired??

Neil C .... was in PNG flying Pumas for Pacific .... lost track of him ...

Dennis T ... in Abu Dhabi

Cripes ... whose missing .... Rod Brown , Hedley Thomas, Eric Wile ..... and ME! :E


Some of us were hired to fly Bell 214STs for LLoyd Helis .... until the politics of favouritism got in the way !! .... but that is another story ...... :ugh:


Yes ... Oh happy days ..... (well before CRM ... Ha ha). ;)

Who services the rig/rigs?
 

I understand that British International have taken a third S61 to the Falklands for the current round of drilling.

Data - a 3rd S-61 arrived in Jan by boat and crews from BIH appeared shortly after - this is a separate contract from the Brintel one but sharing facilities.

I hope if oil is found that the UK will enter a 50/50 arrangement with Argentina because otherwise the Malvinas are likely to become the focal point of future fighting.

In life, just because you can do something does not neceesarily mean that you should. We live in a new world where interdependence is becoming stronger and to develop oil without Argentinian involvement would be a mistake and place crews at risk irrespective of which type of Sikorsky they are in.