The Press. Wednesday, January 22, 1919. Petroleum in England.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16427, 22 January 1919, Page 6

The Press. Wednesday, January 22, 1919. Petroleum in England.

The war has not only caused a very heavy demand for petroleum, but had the effect of considerably curtailing the supplies.. It has now become more than ever valuable for industrial purposes, and one of the first steps to be taken in connexion with the process of reconstruction is to develop fresh sources of supply, preferably, if possible, within the Empire. At present England is very badly off for mineral oil. It is stated that before the war Trinidad was tho only portion of the Empiro producing a surplus; There ate oil wells in Canada, but the output has been steadily diminishing. Between 1899 and .1913 the production of petroleum in Canada fell from 28,000,000 gallons to 3,000,000, while the imports in the same period rose from 9,000,000 gallons to 232,000,000. India produces a considerable quantity, but requires it for her own consumption. The bulk of the mineral oil used in the Mother Country comes from .America and Mexico. Before the war Great Britain drew large supplies from Russia, Ronmania, and the Persian Gulf, an interest having been acquired by the British Governmen in the Persian fields at the instance of Mr Winston Churchill, in view of tho large supplies required for the Navy.

While a great deal has been done with the object of exploring the possibilities of obtaining petroleum from the oversea portions of the Empire, including even New Zealand, remarkably little 'has been done in the way of boring for oil in England. Atl explanation of this j neglect given by the "Westminster " Gazette" is certainly very curious. For a long time petroleum was assumed to be a product of some natural distillation of coal. It was even called coal oil in England and America. It was not found in coal-fields as a matter of fact, and no one seems to have taken the trouble-, to look elsewhere for it. There aro two theories a? to the origin of petroleum—one that it is the result of the decomposition of deposits of fish and other marine deposits at the bottom of the ocean; the other that it is i product of the decomposition of vegetable matter. Whichever theory is correct, petroleum is to be looked for in | ?ertflin sandstone formations rather j than in coal measures. But curiously J enough, the false hypothesis led to the | development of a very valuable industry, since it was tho means of leading a young Scottish engineer to make tho j discovery that oil could be produced artificially from the distillation of shale. In tho year 1009 tho output of oil from Scottish shale-oil works was 80,000,000 gallons, apart from valuable by-pro-ducts. If we mistake not it was profits from this industry which enabled the friend and patron of Dr. Living-' stone to finanoe his mission enterprises, and enable him to carry out his most valuable work of exploration in Africa. The work of distilling oil from shale will go on, but at length the resources of Great Britain in the matter of natural oil deposits are to be tested in a scientific manner, and on an extensive scale. An important agreement has been drawn up between the Government afid Messrs S. Pearson and Son, Ltd., of which Lord Cowdray is the head. In the correspondence, which is published in the English papers, Messrs Pearson and Son, who are a firm of vast experience in petroleum development, express the opinion that "the " possibilities of securing a commer- " ciai production of oil in Great Bri-

" tain are of n distinctly promising " nature." Lord Cowdray made two alternative offers to the Government — (a) For the period of the war to place at the disposal of the Government, free of all cost, the services of the firm and geologic staff, for the purpose of exploration and development; (b) If the Government did ftot wish to risk public money on what must be deemed a speculative enterprise, the firm were prepared to drill at their own risk and expense as licensees, subject to certain areas being reserved to them. This offer, it was stated, committed the firm to a probable expenditure of £500,000. Tho firm laid great stress on legislation being introduced to prevent the unorganised drilling and uncontrolled working which, in America, lias produced wild speculation and deplorable waste. The Government promised to take steps to protect the oilfields against indiscriminate drilling, not only during but after the war. In tho meantime the fifteen drilling areas which were mentioned by tho firm to Mr Waiter Long as most likely to produce oil on a commercial basis, were to bo kept secret. How far the conclusion of the war and tho general election have interfered with the full acceptance of Lord Cowdray's proposals, and the carrying out of tho proposed operations we aro unable to 6ay. A plentiful supply of oil has become such a vital necessity to tho Navy, and of so much value in industries that we feci sure that fresh efforts will bo made on a large scale to increase the production of petroleum within the bounds of the Empire. New Zealand is mentioned in the report of the Dominions Commission, as one of the

countries where petroleum is in evidence, and we shall not be surprised if tho boom were to spread to these shores.