SEARCH FOR OIL

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 57, 1 December 1926, Page 14

SEARCH FOR OIL

COUNTRY’S POTENTIAL WEALTH SURVEY FIRST NECESSARY} Palmerston North, November 30. That there are great possibilities in the production of petroleum in New Zealand, and convincing evidence of the existence of the mineral in this country waiting to be followed up was reaffirmed in an address to the Lunch Club to-day by Mr. W. H. Taylor, of Melbourne, a member of the Victorian Com-' mission of Mines, who stressed in this connection the need for careful geological surveys before any further steps were taken. In his address the speaker said that in the space of fifteen years from 21 to 3 millions sterling had been spent in Australia in search of petroleum, but not a single discovery had been made. This did not mean that no petroleum was going to be found in the country, but the failure to date was due to the-' fact that money had been spent haphazardly. In New Zealand, very few seemed to understand that for 60 years petroleum had been known to exist in the Dominion. Although a great deal of money had been spent in Taranaki, there had been incorrect methods used, and no proper geological surveys made. A great encouragement to the petroleum industry in this country was that the mineral was definitely known to exist, and although efforts in Taranaki had failed, it was not to be assumed that, there were not large areas of land which held accumulations of petroleum. The speaker went on to deal with the result of investigations of land made by different experts from time to time, and said the statement had been made that there were hopes of a great commercial oil-field being found in New Zealand The speaker said that, were there in Australia only part of the indications of oil that were to be found in this country, there would be hundreds of bores in existence all over the Commonwealth.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Nature has been very kind to New Zealand in the matter of petrol deposits,” said Mr Taylor, “but it is to be remembered that the earth formation of the country is very complex. However, operations in the direction of discovering oil are not likely to meet with success unless they have been preceded by the most careful geological surveys bv the most qualified men Failure with first attempts should not allow discouragement Always remember that we have oil here—that should be a very great impetus to the development of the country in developing an enormous area.”

At the conclusion of his address the speaker was accorded a vote of thanks.