Defence Value Of N.Z. Oil To Be Examined

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 15, 3 November 1950, Page 5

Defence Value Of N.Z. Oil To Be Examined

The defence value of New Zealand oil, it is stated, is to be examined. Unless something dramatic occurs the few million gallons of oil that New Zealand produces annually wouldn’t'brew afternoon tea for an armoured division. But there is nothing like trying, and it cannot be laid against New Zealand that efforts have not been made to find oil. Away back in 1874 the South Pacific Oil Co. was looking for oil in the Gisborne area. Maybe local residents can recall those days. Before that it would seem that folk were oil-minded in Taranaki. It is said that oil was first observed by a German in Taranaki in 1839. The first bore was sunk in 1865. The usual story of these undertakings was either that they ran out of money, they stopped work due to breakages in the bore, to water seepage, or through accidental (or otherwise) dropping of tools down the bore. There are still enthusiasts, who insist that there are vast reservoirs of oil down below us. They may be correct, because it is suspected that an oil belt extends round the world from the U.S.A. across the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean, Afghanistan, Malaya, Dutch East Indies to New Zealand. Wellington lies right in the middle of this belt. Maybe someone digging a large hole in Lambton Quay will get a surprise—or won’t he?

The main trouble about oil is that in wartime it is wanted on such a vast scale. The estimated military requirements for Australia in wartime is not less than one million gallons of petrol a month. The Air Force would require a further 500,000 gallons. A cruiser eats .up oil. One of 10,000 tons has a fuel consumption of five milete to the ton at 15 knots, three miles to the ton at 22 knots', and one mile to the ton at 31 knots. When the Germans attacked Poland it was revealed that in three weeks their forces required 1,600.000 gallons of fuel.