OIL FUEL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1340, 18 January 1912, Page 2

OIL FUEL.

BIG DEVELOPMENTS EXPECTED. tßy TeleeraDb.—l'rcss Association.! 1 Auckland, January IG. I Mr. J. D. Henry, the London oil expert who, visited New Zealand /ast year to iu- \ fjuiro into the developments in petroleum . in Tnrnnuki and elsewhere, is again visiting the Dominion. Jlr. Henry arrived in ; Auckland by tho Makura, and he will spend several weeks in the Dominion, principally, in Tanmaki. In conversation with a reporter, Jlr. Henry said that the ■ best, features of the oil industry were tho rapid increase of (he number of Britishowned tank steamers, the extensive and extending use of oil fuel in the Navy, and tho amazing growth of the petrol markets iii;al,l parts of tho civilised world. .Big Tlevelopiiients, he said, were being made in the Paciiic, and this year could not,fail,to be the most important in tho history of Pacific shipping, and indirectly of tho oil industry. Projects of ' iiinuenseJmportinco.were, being matured in eaua'hj/^Htgfriilia/' and' New Zealand, and next year America would open tho Panama Canal, which would bo a powerful factor to increase shipping in the Pacific. Most of thp leading shipping concerns were arranging to considerably increase their tonnage, anil Mr. Henry said it was not open to doubt that orders for many new vessels would be placed • with .British ship-builders. Asked whether it would bo possible to procure supplies of oil for steamers in the Vancouvor-N-ew Zealand-Australian run in New Zealand, Mr. Henry said he was'not prepared at the present time to go. but he pointed out that "sueir vessels as the Makura would lie able to make tho round, trip from Vancouver to Sydney via Auckland and back, with something less than 3000 tons of oil, which would occupy less space than the amount of coal consumed on a single passage from the Canadian coast to New Zealand. Mr. Henry added that ! there was not a shadow of doubt that in the next few years oil fuel storage tanks, to which regular supplies of oil will bo sent will \x erected at either ; Suva or Honolulu,, and probably at Auckland. What part will Taraualti oil play in this matter? 3lr;Henry was asked. He j replied :hat nothing which, had taken place since his lu.st visit to New Zealand ' had diminished his faith in 'the possi-, liility of the Taranaki petroleum field giving regular supplies of oil fuel for mer--1 cantile purposes! As a matter of fact, ■ , a report which he had brought to New Zealand proved that it yielded the largest percentage of paraffin wax of any oil in ; the woild.