Noteworthy captions that passed initial muster were:

“I really thought I had packed that long pipe…”

“Okay Bevan (Warris) see if you can do any better”

“Chas (Lane, VicPet exploration manager) look what I found, I’ve never seen one of these in OUR permits before”

“And I call this piece … ‘Long necked desert woman’. ”

“I’ve never needed long sleeves and slacks on my wells.”

“I didn’t expect this well to flow so I only brought me toy spanner.”

“This will only take a minute and I promise I won’t get dirty.”

“(Loudspeaker voice) Put down that spanner and step away from the well!”

“Five cougars thanks.”

“And here’s a little something I prepared earlier.”

“So let me get this straight – oil comes out of where?

“You mean I should have been turning it ANTI-clockwise all these years?”

“ Well here’s the spanner, but which part of this bloody great thing is “the works”? “

"Quick Obi-Wan, pass me my light sabre before this thing attacks !"

(in breathless Richard Attenborough wildlife documentary tones) “And this, dear Viewer, is the Greater Rough Knuckled Desert Sucker, often found in the Central Australian deserts. It is the only mammal on earth, or that has ever been on earth as far as we can establish, that survives with a completely dry digestive tract and will probably never become extinct for that reason only. It will not harm man though it can do great damage to his valuable assets.”

“Yes I still do my own plumbing at home”

From the explorer formerly known as Dry John:

"look what I found Mum!" and;

"I feel a bit like the dog that caught the car. What do I do with it now."

And the winner is … “What do you mean open the choke? What the heck’s a choke? I’ve never needed one of those before.”

A bottle of 2002 Xabregas Cabernet Merlot is on the way to Mike Dworkin, Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd.

Many thanks to JK for being a good sport!

Editor's note: If you want to drop your manager / colleague in it by featuring in an upcoming caption competition, send your candid (but G-rated) pics to [email protected]