ERUPTION OF OIL AND MUD.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1374, 27 February 1912, Page 6

ERUPTION OF OIL AND MUD.

enormous pressure,

(By Te'iccrarh—Press Association.! New Plymouth February 28, The Tnranaki Petroleum Company'* boro No. 5 afforded o great spectacle last evening. Oil and mud were being ejected to tho height of tho top of the derrick with a force that was almost unprecedented iu the-history of local oil-boring. Tho boro having been cleaned and tho easing replaced, drilling was started in the morning, aud when twenty-eight feet had been bored, tho material encountered being oil-bearing throughout, tho gas came away, being followed by an eruption, not. a flow, of oil and m«n, .The pressure 'was enormous (over 10001b. to the inch the manager stated), and it wasquito out of tho Qiics-tiou to measure the oil output. The.whole place aud surroundings aro covcrod with oil and mud, bnt Jig manager hopes to save a certain proportion of the oil. Tho well is now down 2323 feet, and as soon as the pressure relaxes, which may happen at any moment, the manager hopes to divert the oil flow to tho underground tanks. Before 'ho eruption the well was full of pure 0)1. This no doubt eamo from the veins that supplied tho 30 barrels a day flow. W th tlio tapping of the new veins lower do n it is expected tho flow will.be gicatcr than ever.