Arakan Library - Commercialization of the Arakan Oil Industry

Arakan: - One Who Preserves and Takes Care of Their Own Nationality.

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Arakan Library was founded by a group of Arakan Action Association (AAA) in exile in Thailand from Burma in 2007 doing to voice for the knowledge, the people democratic and human rights.

Arakan Action Association (AAA)

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Oil in Burma

by <Marilyn v. Longuir>

Commercialization of the Arakan Oil Industry: The Boronga Islands

By the 1870s growing interest in commercial oil production was stimulated by the Akyab Exhibition of 1875. There prospectors showed an interest in Arakan, two of whom "persevered" (Report on the oil-wells of Burma, 23 November 1888, IOR P3122). As a result, in 1875a Mr Willoughby Savage was granted a one square mile (259 ha) concession on Eastern Boronga Island (Letter No. 16, Govt. of India, R&A Dept., to Viscount Cross, Secretary of State for India, 27 May 1890, IOR L/E/7/233). The lease was "for 30 years, rent-free for three years, and subject at the end of that period to a royalty of 5 per cent on the value of the crude oil" (Report on the oil-wells of Burma, 23 November 1888).

Two wells were dug "500 feet" (152m) apart, one of which struck oil on 25 February 1878 (Mallet 1878a, 213). This was the first commercially drilled well in British Burma, eleven years before the first well was drilled on the Yenangyaung fields (Corley 1983, 1:36). First, a large hole was excavated to a depth of 9 metres; Then "boring commenced, and had been carried to a depth of 36 feet [11 m] only, when the workmen were surprised and terrified by a sudden outburst of gas and oil, accompanied by loud subterraneous sounds, as of distant thunder." Just in time, the workmen raced up their ladders as oil and gas escaped from the well. The oil rose in the well to about 1.2 metres, and remained at this level for seven days. Early production was sufficient to excite some commercial interest, and Savage estimated production at 1,000 gallons (4546L) per day before the rate slackened off to about 120 gallons (546L). Within a few days, the second well also struck oil in a similar manner, producing about 150 gallons (682 L) per day (Mallet 1878a, 213-14).

In 1879 William Gillam, the second prospector who "persevered," obtained a more extensive lease of 4 square miles (1,037 ha) on Eastern Boronga Island. Terms were similar to those applying for Savage, but immediately after receiving his lease, Gillam arranged to transfer his concession to the Boronga Oil Company (Report, H. Buck to Chief Sec., Chief Commissioner, Burma, 30 April 1888, IOR P3122; Letter No.16, Govt. of India, 27 May 1890). Soon both Savage and the Boronga Oil Company were disappointed with production from their early wells on Eastern Boronga and turned their attention south to Ramree Island (Letter No. 16, Govt. of India, 27 May 1890).