OIL IN FROZEN NORTH.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17112, 6 April 1921, Page 8

OIL IN FROZEN NORTH.

CANADIAN DISCOVERY. BUSH OF PEOSPECTORS. • VANCOUVER, February 26. There is, intense excitement in Western Canada, particularly "over an important discovery of fuel oil in the frigid fastnesses of the Far North. Oil has been struck on the Mackenzie river, 45 miles below Fort Norman. Although the new field is only 145 miles from the Arctic Circle and 1500 miles from civilisation, there has already been a rush of prospectors and speculators. The Canadian . Government suspended the oil regulations at the outset, when parties commenced to file claims in the frigid area, as it did not desire a repetition of the horrors of the Klondike rush, when scores lost their lives through faulty preparation for the hazardous and trying journey into the Arctic regions. Before anyone is allowed to enter the Mackenzie area he has to pass a rigid physical examination, and is compelled to show sufficient outfit and supplies to negotiate the trip into the hinterland.

Prospecting Conditions. According to the ni w regulations > issued by the Department of the Interior, each applicant may be granted a prospecting permit for four square mile 3. If oil "be discovered, the lessee will be allowed to take out a 21-year lease for an area of. one square mile, or an area not exceeding 25 per cent, of his prospectino 1 permit. The remaining threequarters will remain Government reservations. A prospector is limited to five permits. Frankly, the Canadian Government will not allow any foreign concern to gain a monopoly of Canadian oil measures. Furthermore, the regulations are framed to protect the public from wild-catting, fraud, or misrepresentation, and leases' will be cancelled or refused in the event of malpractice being proved. Winter travellers to and from the oilfields are finding the journey slow and difficult, according to Mr A. H. Schurer, a well-known and experienced northern man, who arrived in the Alberta capital of Edmonton a few days ago from the Fort Norman oilfields. Mr Schurer reported the ice on the Mackenzie river in a terible condition, while Dhe . trail travelling was bad. On" the way out he passe'd two or three outfits played out along the trail. Some of them were experienced northern travellers who-had ventured on the long and hazardous journey after some years spent in cities.' They had found they were not able to stand the strain, and were taking a rest of a month ,to recondition themselves. The ice on the Mackenzie was very rough, the swift river forcing'.it upland up as it was made. It took Mr Schurer a whole day to cross the stream, a distance of scarcely a mile. The ice ihad upended in enormous cakes, presenting walls as high, as a two-storey building. These had to be scaled, and one was not passed before another barred the way:. Beyond the river the trail was hard and difficult, and Mr Schurer and his -Indians had to exert every effort to make progress. He was of tine opinion that inexperienced men would not have been able to get through. Pipeline and Railway

In spite of all these difficulties, parties of prospectors are being organised in Vancouver, Edmonton, ond other! Western centres, all determined to surmount any difficulty, bo dazzling is the prospect of striking oil in abundant fuantities and amassing a fortune. The 'ederal and Provincial Governments already are being urged to construct railway communication; while the companies in course of formation expect to lay a pipe-line.to convey the oil to some convenient Pacific coast, station, , and! thence,to the •! world's ' markets' by steamer.

Modern methods are to be employed to reach the oilfield. The Imperial Oil Company, which made the original'discovery last August, has already sent an aeroplane from Saskatoon to the Peace river district. Plans have also been completed by a Vancouver syndicate for the inauguration in March, of an aerial passenger and light freight service'from Peace River Crossing to Fort Norman, a distance of 750 miles. Orders have been placed for a Handley-Page plane to carry 16 passengers or 25001b of freight. It is expected to make th'> trip from Peace River Crossing to Fort Norman in one day, including stops at Fort Nelson and Fort Simpson. The dfstance from Peace River Crossing* to Fort Nelson in 275 miles, from Fort Nelson to Fort Simpson 215-miles, and thence to Fort Norman a further 250 miles. Other syndicates will utilise seaplanes and cross to the oilfield by way of rivers and lakes, which abound on one route to Fort Norn Jan. As # the winter trip would be extremely hazardous in a temperature going as low a* 65 degrees below-zero, most of the explorers intend awaiting the first approach of spring and /then malting the final dash either by air or boat, and sled to the oil area. The season in the Far North is shorthand the explorers expect to dig in before the arrival of spring, and then cover the remaining distance in the quickest po> sible time.

The North-West Territory, which was left over when the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta were organised, may yet form a tenth province of Canada, for the Government has ap-' pointed • a Commission to govern the immense area which covers some 500,000 square miles. \Much has been learned about the resources of this district in the last 17 years, and the oil discovery at Fort Norman gives more' definite knowledge' of one kind of natural wealth. Arctic exploration is revealing other resources in minerals and fisheries,' for experts have estimated that one-fifth of the world's known coal measures exist in • Northern British Columbia, and this North-west Terri-, tory and its immediate envrrons.