DISCOVERY OF OIL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 49, 26 January 1938, Page 15

DISCOVERY OF OIL.

SOUTH RUSSIAN AREA. “COLOSSAL IMPORTANCE.” MOSCOW, Jan. 10. Fabulously rich oil deposits are reported to have been discovered in Southern Russia. A preliminary geological examination suggests that the oilfield extends a great distance from Lake Baikal toward the Pacific coast of China.

Lake Baikal is a 400-mile long sheet of water, the southern extremity of which is only a few miles from the Mongolian border, aiid approximately 600 miles north-west of Japanese-con-trolled Manchukuo.

The Soviet military authorities are vitally interested in the discovery. They point out that although the Lake Baikal region is in a fortified area it is within a day’s striking distance of the Mongolian frontier. This circumstance, it is considered, changes the entire aspect of Russia's Far Eastern defence. It eliminates theories of a possible strategic retreat in the event of a surprise attack upon Russia through Mongolia. The find is officially described as being of “colossal national economic importance, necessitating heavy reinforcement of the Soviet’s Far Eastern armies.” The construction of a line of fortresses, similar to France’s Maginot Line, is envisaged. Simultaneously with the announcement of the oil discovery comes another that Russian military roads linking Lake Baikal with the Amur River are being gradually completed. The Amur River, in its lower reaches, is the boundary between Manchukuo and the Siberian Soviet Province of Amur. Last July there was a series of incidents between Russia and Japan arising from a conflict of views on navigation rights in the | river.