Phosphate-rich Nauru, with one of the world’s highest per capita incomes, becomes independent in 1968.
Unexplained distress signals from the mid-Pacific are received by radio stations in 1968, but no ships are found during a search.
An alleged May 10th, 1968, meeting in Hawaii between Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, William Colby (the head of CIA covert operations in Southeast Asia) and Gerald Parsky (deputy to ex- CIA/ex-FBI Hughes organization man Robert Maheu) is the germination of a new Australian company called Australasian and Pacific Holdings, Limited.
Travelodge Management Ltd. allegedly works through the Chase-Manhattan and Schroder banks to link the new company to the US.
In mid-July of 1968, Hunt’s Placid Oil Company and several other major oil companies—Gulf Oil, Shell (US), British Petroleum, Standard Oil of California (Chevron), Mobil, and Atlantic-Richfield Corporation (Arco)—begin exploring for oil in the Great South Basin.
Hunt reportedly funds 45.5% of the exploration costs.
On October 12, 1968, Placid Oil and the other exploration companies confirm a new oil source comparable to Alaska’s North Slope, with gas reserves estimated at 30 to 150 times larger than the Kapuni Field.
