Crikey! That’s Oil: An Outback Adventure

History in the making! A vivid biographical account of a grand adventure born out of a small boy’s dream of becoming an oilman. Inspired by images from the great Texan Oil Strikes of the 1920’s Ivan has a long road to travel before he is to savour the hot pungent liquid flowing between his fingers. The year is 1953, West Australian Petroleum, now Chevron Texaco, has made a wildcat strike in the North West, Ivan stares on in disbelief at the very first flow of oil from Australian soil, heralding in a new era of exploration and mining in the Northwest outback. The story is told with great humour and wit that masks the hazards and discomfort endured by the early pioneers who chose to venture out from the comfort of the city and towns to extract the untapped mineral wealth from a harsh and unforgiving land. Anyone who has lived and worked in remote places or dreams of adventure will immediately identify with this book. For those who seek knowledge of the past, it provides an invaluable account of life as a boy in 1930’s West Australia and his subsequent involvement in the post war expansion of mineral exploration and development. Ivan Macmillan, born in Perth Western Australia, was brought up in very modest circumstances despite being related to Sir Harold Macmillan for former British Prime Minister and the book publisher, Macmillan. The challenges of growing up in pre war Western Australia and an engineering apprenticeship building Steam Locomotives during the war equipped him with the skills and courage that enabled him to venture into the outback in search of adventure and fortune. Autobiography pp. 336 illusts #0720