In mid-January 1942, with the Japanese closing in, crews in the outlying oil fields began to destroy the wells, as was being done elsewhere in the Indies. They pulled out the tubing, cut it up, and jammed it down again into the wells, along with pumps, rods, any bolts, nuts, and drilling bits they could lay their hands on, and one other thing—a tin of TNT for each well. The wells were blown up. The crews started with the least productive wells, but finally all were destroyed.
