THE BAY OIL-FIELDS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1699, 15 March 1913, Page 13

THE BAY OIL-FIELDS.

AN INDUSTRY OF THE FUTURE? . VIEWS OF AN EXPERT. . Over a wide area of country, stretching from the East Capo to Mahia Peninsula, a distance of considerably over ono

hundred miles, good indications of oil are to bo soon. For nearly forty years efforts have been made to locate tlio petroleum in commercial quantities, and nlthougli a considerable amount of capital has been expended in boring operations by the various companies which have from, time to time been formed, the goal has not yet been reached. Some years ago the Poverty Bay Company "struck oil" to a limited extent.. A bore which was put down yielded a flow of four or fivo barrels of oil per day at 055 feet, but the quality was such as to indicate that the main supply was to bo found at a lower level, and boring was continued till the company's capital" becamo exhausted, but without result. Mr. W. E. Akroyd, Government Valuer at Gisborne, has for many years takeii a keen interest in the development of tlio oil industry in Poverty Bay, and is considered one of the .most reliable authorities in tlio district. Ho is firmly convinced that success will be ultimately achieved, and that the time is not far distant when oil will be one of the gteat industries of Poverty Bay. To ' a Dominion , representative, Mr. Akroyd gave a brief account of the various 'attempts which have been made to locate oil, and also the reasons for his belief that success would come sooner or later. An examination of tlio East Coast oil area, i.e., Wairoa, Cook, Waikohu, and Waiapu Counties, he said, discloses the following surfaco indications of petroleum and its products:— Tho presence of petroleum exuding at the surface in several locations. A very large number of natural gas emanations extending practically over tho whole district, * more or less,-on what appears to bo defined lines, which follow nearly parallel, to the backbone of the country—the Rakumara Range. Petroleum shales are found in several places. ■ Saline springs' (an almost usual accompaniment of petroleum) can bo found generally with or adjoining natural gas emanations. Mud volcanoes, both 6mall and large, aro found. Solid paraffin or ozolccrit'o has been found in at least ono location. Geologically, it is known that the anticlinal • folds, requisite for the

accumulation of petroleum, aro present in the district. It is known there is an impervious cover overlying the oil-bear-ing strata in many places; the cover being clay-stone alut shales, and tho underlying porous oil-bearing formation being sandstones and limestones, with conglomerates in ono locality. The crude oil obtained from the Waitangi bore of the Gisborno Oil Company at 055 feet gives an analysis as under:—Petroleum spirit distilling below loOdeg.C., 31.0 per cent.; kerosene distilling between ISOdcg. and SOOdeg.C., 40.5 per cent.; lubricating

oil, paraffin, pitch, and loss,. 25.5 per cent. s ; ; This analysis, according (Jo Mr. Akroyd, indicates a very valuable crude oil from the amount ol' light oil contained, and taken in conjunction with known geological data, indicates the presence of J-'lio desired impervious covcr at' Waitangi above the 055 ft. level, and also giving an indication as to the possible depth of- t'ho . main supply. Somo Early History. Long before tho advent of the pakeha, the oil and gas indications in Poverty Bay were objects of interest' to tho Maoris. Wa'itangi Hill, near Whatatutu, was called by them "Tho ITill of tile Stranded Whale," owing to their belief that the oil coming to the surfaco was accounted for by the presence of a buried cetacean. The first attempt to develop the oilfields of Poverty Boy was made ill. 1871 by a Taranaki syndicate, which had just previously niado an unsuccessful attempt to locate oil. at New Plymouth.' They had heard of the extended indications of oil in the vicinity of Gisborno, and after a visit of inspection liad bean made to Waitangi Hill t'hey became associated with romo local residents in the formation of the Poverty Bay Oil Company. A. timbered shaft, the remains of .which are still to b3 seen, was sunk, but work had to 1m abandoned before any great depth had been reached owing" to the fumes overpowering the men. Tho indications wero considered so promising. that n, drilling plant was obtained from America, but the capital bscoming"exhausted before t'ho oil deposit was reached, operations had to bo abandoned. Tha plant and interests of this company wero purchased in 1882 by the--South Pacific Petroleum Company, with headquarters', in Sydney. Several bores were commenced, but each in turn had to In abandoned owing to the moving formation making it impossible to drive the casing down. In 1887 a boro in the valley somo miles from Waitangi had reached a depth of 1350 feet, when a blow-out took place. The gas and oil becamo ignited, and the derrick and machinery were destroyed. The company shortly afterwards wound mi, with losses amounting, to .£22,000. Sinco then a numbsr of attempts have been made to "strike oil," |but for .a variety of reasons, chiefly inexperience and'lack of sufficient funds, complete success has not yet been met with. A test of tho crude oil from the Waitangi boro was made at the Gisborne powerhouse early in 1912. It was used in driving tho Diessel cnsiiies. and was found particularly effective for this work. ■ The fact that an oil-field exists, on a very large scale, seems to' ha to boon established beyond' doubt'. Mr. .J. |D. ITeiirv, the British oil expert,; who .visited New''Zealand about a that "Taranaki lias not anyutiug like tho same number of reliable oil indications as Gisixty'iie." The problem still to be solved is tho depth to which it will be necessary to boro to obtain a payable flow. Operations are now being carried on by the N.Z. Oilfields, Ltd., a London company which has options extending over 230 square iliiles of country. Boring has now repelled a depth of about twelve hundred feet, and present indications aro said to bo most encouraging. There liavo been many instances of tho natural gas emanations from the oil areas having been turned to profitable account. Over thirty years ago the .Makaraka Hotel was'lit throughout with natural gas. At tho present time tho gas is used both for light and Cooking at tho residence of Mr. J. Tombleson, Newstead (fiyi miles from Gisbornel,, and also; at tho residence of Mr. «T, Hunt. Tho pn* gives a splendid light when used ' with ordinary g£ts mantles, nuti is said to bo entirely non-poisonous. ,•