The vital search

After many decades scouring Australia and Papua New Guinea for petroleum resources, Esso geoscientists discovered a string of oil and gas fields in Bass Strait in the 1960s.

These world-class discoveries marked a turning point for the Australian economy and for the nation as a whole.

Esso photographer and film-maker Cyril Cox was on hand to capture this historic period in the nation’s history.

As part of ExxonMobil’s move to our new Docklands office, the company took the opportunity to digitise many of Cyril’s film reels that were stored in the Southbank building.

Here is a taste of one – ‘The Vital Search’.

Cyril worked on ‘The Vital Search’ for three years, with production taking him to PNG and offshore Bass Strait. At the time, he said he enjoyed the responsibility of working on this and all the other Esso films.