SEARCH FOR OIL
Operations In New Zealand DRILLING IN TARANAKI Taranaki (N.Z.) Oil Fields No Liability has issued the following memorandum to shareholders: — T . New Zealand Petroleum Co. Ltd. is sinking its second test well at Morere, within one mile of the northern shore line of Hawke Bay. The heavy plant formerly employed at the Totangi No. 1 ■Well is being used, and the well, which was started on February 12, had been sunk without deviation from the vertical to 1920 feet at April 16. All preparations have been made for a deep and, as early as possible, a conifisive test at Morere, where it. is anticipated that drilling conditions will be easier than at lotangi, as the strata are much less steeply tilted. Directional drilling equipment is available, and drilling experience gained at Totangi will be utilized to advantage. Gisborne (N.Z.) Oil Fields Ltd., in which Taranaki (N.Z.) Oil Fields No Liability holds 96.5 per cent, of the shares, is entitled to receive an overriding royalty of 5 per cent, of the value at the wedhead of all crude oil won and sold from the Morere well. New Zealand Petroleum Co Ltd. expects to commence this month drilling a deep well in Taranaki province, on the west side of the North Island. The first well to be sunk will be near Mklhirst, 19 miles in a direct line from Moturoa, where two old wells continue to flow from a relatively shallow horizon (viz., 2200 feet), nine to 10 barrels of oil a day. On post experiences of drilling in the Taranaki province good drilling speed is expected. This Midhirst well is located about two miles outside the boundary of the 600 square mile block in which Taranaki (N.Z.) Oil Fields No Liability has a royalty interest through its shareholding of rather more than 50 per cent, m Moturoa Oilfields Ltd. The Midhirst structure is one of several which have been located in the Taranaki province, as the result of geological and geophysical surveys extending over twenty months, carried out by New Zealand Petroleum Co. Ltd., and its successful development to the stage of commercial production would undoubtedly mean the wide extension of drilling in that province, and, inter alia, a substantial enhancement of the value attaching to the royalty rights over the 600 square miles of favourably situated lands abovementioned, on which promising structures have been proved to exist. Active geological and geophysical survey work is proceeding both on the Taranaki side and the East Coast, and. before the present wells are completed, sites for further wells will be selected and prepared. so that the present drilling plants may be moved on to these sites and drilling proceed on these new locations witli a minimum of delay.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19400501.2.122.7
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 184, 1 May 1940, Page 12
Word count
Tapeke kupu
458SEARCH FOR OIL Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 184, 1 May 1940, Page 12
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Dominion. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.