Beam Pump. Moturoa. New Plymouth. New Zealand.
S 39° 03.655 E 174° 02.465
60H E 243978 N 5672295
At Ngamotu Beach an old oilfield beam pump has been preserved and set up as a memorial to pioneers of oil exploration in New Zealand.
Waymark Code: WMGV8J
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 04/11/2013
Views: 8
Take a walk along Ngamotu Beach for a view of the Port of New Plymouth. There were once about 30 oil wells in this area. You will see the one remaining beam pump, which marks the site of Moturoa No. 4 oil well, drilled to a depth of 666 metres in 1931 and closed in 1972. The beam pump was erected by Shell BP and Todd Oil Services as a memorial to the pioneers of oil exploration in New Zealand.
The beam pump on the foreshore marks the site of an oil well that was in production from 1931 to 1972. The pump celebrates Taranaki's history as an oil province where active exploration began in 1865 . Moturoa was New Zealand’s first successful commercial strike.
Moturoa is filled with the history of the turbulent oil industry.
Ngamotu Beach is a mere miniature of how is used to be some 140 years ago during the boom and bust prospecting for black gold. It was in 1865 that drilling started on Carter & Co’s Alpha well in the Moturoa oilfield, making Taranaki the second industrial drilling site in the world.
This 'Nodding Neddy' beam pump, is sited near one of the oldest oilfields in the world, still producing oil. This well was re-opened some 4 or 5 years ago and a modern day version of a beam pump was installed and oil was pumped out at a rate of around 5 barrels a day. Today the well is owned solely by Greymouth Petroleum and now flows naturally at around 3 barrels a day without the use of the pump. The crude oil is stored and taken away by truck every month.
Type of Machine: Beam Pump
Year the machine was built: 1957
Year the machine was put on display: Unknown
Is there online documentation for this machine: [Web Link]
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