Rough Range
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
Rough Range is a location in Western Australia where oil was discovered during an exploration drilling programme in 1953.
West Australian Petroleum (WAPET) drilled its first well at Rough Range near North West Cape in 1953.{{Citation | author1=Western Australia. Government Photographer | title=Aerial view of the Rough Range oil well and site | publication-date=1954 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/175511572 | accessdate=4 December 2016 }}{{Citation | author1=Murray, Robert | author2=Murray, Robert | title=From the edge of a timeless land : a history of the North West Shelf Gas Project | publication-date=1991 | publisher=Allen & Unwin | isbn=978-0-04-442295-2 }} This well produced at a rate of {{convert|550|oilbbl/day|m3/day|order=flip|abbr=off}}, and was the first working well of Australia's commercial petroleum industry.{{Citation | title=ChevronTexaco : Rough Range to Gorgon | publication-date=2003 | publisher=Oil & Gas Australia | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10199740 | accessdate=4 December 2016 }}{{Citation | author1=Western Australia. Government Photographer | title=Oil drilling rig at Rough Range | publication-date=1954 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/175511575 | accessdate=4 December 2016 }}{{Citation | author1=Condon, M. A. (Maurice Alan) | title=Geological significance of discovery of oil at Rough Range, Western Australia | publication-date=1954 | publisher=Tulsa? | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/180488793 | accessdate=4 December 2016 }} Despite being abandoned as non-commercial in the mid 1950s, consideration was given in the 2000s to re-work the find.{{Citation | title=Rough Range is set for a new life | journal=Australasian Business Intelligence | publication-date=8 June 2005 | publisher=COMTEX News Network, Inc | issn=1320-6680 }}{{Citation | title=Rough Range resurrection plan | journal=Australasian Business Intelligence | publication-date=23 June 2004 | publisher=COMTEX News Network, Inc | issn=1320-6680 }}{{Citation | title=Rough Range back on tap | journal=Australasian Business Intelligence | publication-date=8 September 2005 | publisher=COMTEX News Network, Inc | issn=1320-6680 }}