il
I know it’s hard to imagine, but imagine oil seeping out of the ground. Also imagine there are many places where this occurs in the Miri area. This was how Shell Oil Company found the oil to recover in Sarawak. Of course, Shell did not “find ” it. The people of Sarawak did.
The people of Sarawak had used this strange mixture, mixed with resin, to caulk boats, making them water proof. “Earth Oil” as they called it, was used like a coconut oil wicked up to provide light but, sometimes, Earth Oil exploded with disastrous results. Houses burst into flames.
Claude Campion de Crespigny, was in charge of the Baram District after Rajah Charles had annexed it. de Crespigny reported there were 18 shallow wells had been dug by hand some years ago. They did not have to dig too deeply. He recommended that Rajah Charles investigate the oil. It was 1882, and there was absolutely no demand for oil in Sarawak. de Crespiny’s successor in 1888, was Charles Hose.
Charles Hose first posting was at Claude Town where the locals, earning small rewards, showed him a number of oil seepages. He carefully mapped the area. He also persuaded Rajah Charles to hire an English geologist who gave a very negative report taking into consideration the engineering and technical problems of the time.
Charles Hose returned to England on a pension in 1907. He brought with him maps and samples of the oil. He sent letters to Rajah Charles who was living at Cirencester(?) at the time. The Rajah agreed to let Hose show the samples and maps to an oil company. The Rajah and Hose signed a deal with the Anglo-Saxon Oil Company, one of the companies of the Shell group.
Dr. Erb, a petroleum geologist and Hose returned to Sarawak via the Trans Siberian Railroad. (!) They contacted the Rajah and proceeded to Miri. Dr. Erb confirmed an “unsymmetrical anticline with a steep eastern flank and numerous oil shows.” In others words, there was oil.Dr. Erb returned to Miri in 1910 and fixed the location of the first well. He sited the well on a hill which mystified the inhabitants who thought they would drill in the swamp where the seepages were. A wooden derrick was erected and well started on 10 August 1910. The drilling was slow and was completed on 22 December 1910 where at 452 feet was brought into production. Initial production was 83 barrels daily which increased to 132 barrels daily.
Charles Hose died in November, 1929. The oil company offered to pay him for his services but he preferred a Royalty payment instead. It is unknown how much the Rajah Charles and Charles Hose received in payment.
At the time of opening the well, Miri kampong consisted of 20 houses and two Chinese shops. The only shipping connection was between North Borneo and Singapore with a stopover in Kuching via the Steamers Kaka and Adeh. The proximity of a large sand bar across the mouths of the Baram and Miri rivers plagued even the most experienced of Captains.
Even by today’s standards (1972), the setting up an oil rig was most dangerous. In the early days of Miri, large equipment had to be transferred from the ocean going steamers to small boats who could navigate the sand bar. The transfer of stores were either by perahu or a large raft propelled by men managing 12 polls. Needless to say, it was the local men who provided the cheap labor.
Following the success of the first well, a second well was dug in April of 1911. By 1914, eight wells were in production which totalled 65,510 tons (I am not sure how they measured oil in those days) per year. Sarawak supplied 65,510 tons of oil during the First World War for British use.
In 1916, the refinery was moved to Lutong as it was the nearest place to Miri where long pipelines could be fabricated that had no river crossings. The crude oil was pumped directly from Miri to Lutong and then to ships.
By 1920, 70 wells had been dug with an average daily production of 2,200 barrels. In 1925 most of the oil accumulation had been found by the following year. In 1929, the peak production of 15,000 barrels had been reached. Most of the profits went to Rajah Vyner and the estate of Charles Hose.
After 1929, production declined. By 1940 , the field produced one million barrels per year. Plans were laid for the destruction of the oil fields in case the Japanese invaded. The systematic destruction began on December 8, 1941.
The Japanese brought production back to 750,000 barrels, their peak production came in 1944. On June 10, 1945 troops of the Australian 9th division occupied Labuan Island and eleven day later liberated Miri. They were met with a scene of devastation with oil wells burning, demolished buildings and wrecked installations.
In October, 1946 6,000 barrels were produced from the rehabilitated field. In August 1947 the first well since the occupation was brought on line which produced 420 barrels per day. The Lutong refinery had been rebuilt and the lines from Miri also were replaced during the time of the oil field resurrection.
It had been obvious that the oil was running down as production declined from five million barrels to two million barrels. Only once since 1946 did the 90 wells of 609 drilled produce the 500,000 barrel mark. In 1972, the oil fields at Miri were closed down by Shell as the oil had run out.
It is unknown how much money Rajah Charles, Rajah Vyner and Charles Hose received from the fields. It is also unknown how much the colonial government and the Malaysia Union received. It can be said, with certainty, that the people of Sarawak received nothing.
From The Miri Oil Field 1910-1972 by G.C. Harper in the Sarawak Museum Journal December 1972
Our book Sarawak River Valley Early Days to 1840 is available on Amazon.Com or Lulu. Com. There are scattered copies available in Malay and English available at the Smart Bookstores in Kuching.
