THE POVERTY BAY OIL SPRINGS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4214, 22 September 1874, Page 3

THE POVERTY BAY OIL SPRINGS.

(From the Poverty Bay Herald.) The shareholders of the Poverty Bay Petroleum Company ought to feel gratified with the report of Mr. Parsons regarding the probabilities of ultimate success, and the most prejudiced would now be unable to deny the fact that the future of the company has every appea-ance of being a prosperous one. Mr. Parsons, who has had twelve years’ experience of oil boring operations in Pennsylvania, states that he is most favorably impressed with the ground. The source of the petroleum, as far as is known up to the present time, is generally found to be in a belt of honey-combed, porous rock, and the oil, which in this instance is oozing out of the surface, has been forced upwards from its matrix, as the bed of rock may be termed, by the inflammable gas with which it is invariably associated. The other details of the report speak for themselves ; the manager considers that the oil is, to all appearance, similar in quality and value to that obtained in Pennsylvania, and according to the rate of wages, &c., in this district, he asserts that a well yielding thirty barrels (1200 gallons) per diem, would pay handsome dividends to the company. A “ thirty barrel" well, is however, a very low average, and although the manager is of course unable to predict the quantity obtainable in this instance, he has strong hopes that if he succeeds in striking the oil belt, the yield will be infinitely, greater than that we have above quoted. Every requisite is on the ground, with the exception of some minor additions in the way of a few extra heavy beams of timber, and operations will be commenced as soon as these are supplied. Before leaving this subject, we would caution shareholders and the public against looking at this matter in any false light. From what we have heard and seen of Mr. Parsons, we should judge him to be eminently, qualified to conduct operations on the company’s behalf. He gives us every reason to believe that oil in payable quantities is present in the company’s ground, and it now remains for him to do his best to find it. There is great uncertainty, however, about the work of oil boring. In many instances, the actual spot where the “lead” is struck proves to be half a mile distant from whore it crops out on the surface, and the very fact of the lead varying so much in -width rendered it by no means certain that Mr. Parsons will succeed in his first, second, or third boring. Be that as it may, the shareholders have a right to pin their faith to tho enterprise, and to afford Mr. Parsons ample time and opportunity for thoroughly proving the ground, for there is little doubt as to the ultimate success of the undertaking. To the Directors of the Poverty Bay Kerosene and Petroleum Company. Gen’tleme.v, —In accordance with your request, I beg to lay before you the following preliminary report : On Friday, the 11th instant, I arrived on the ground, in company with your chairman, Mr. Graham, and on Saturday made an inspection of tho ground, the springs, machinery, and plant of £he company. My short stay in the locality necessarily caused my inspection to be but a cursory one, but I am happy to state that there is every indication of payable oil on the property. The general aspect of the country leads me to believe that the bed rook, whence the oil flows, lies at no very great depth, say within five hundred feet from the surface, whilst the copious Alterations everywhere visible warrant me in predicting that the oil is extremely plentiful. From the sample of crude oil placed before me, I consider it equal to the Pennsylvanian oil, and that it will yield fully as large a percentage of kerosene, viz., from seventy to eighty per cent. The cost of refining will probably be on a similar scale to the Pennsylvanian rate, but from my limited knowledge of the locality and the general surroundings, I am not prepared in this report to enter into details. I may state, however, from an experience of twelve years in boring oil and refining, that with a thirty-barrel well, which I consider small, we shall be able to pay handsome dividends. Doubts have been expressed in my hearing that you will be unable to produce refined oil as cheaply as in America. These may be at once dismissed. AVages here are lower than at the oil region of Pennsylvania ; the country through which you would bring the oil, either by tramway or pipe, offers every facility ; and I have no hesitation in saying that there is no reason why it should not be sold in a refined state, at the port of Gisborne, as cheaply as it is sold in the United States. I may state that I have been shown a calculation which was published in the Poverty Bay Herald of January 26, 1874, as to the probable cost per gallon, and I consider the calculation to be rather over than under the amount stated. I feel assured that you will realise the fact that, having been in the district but a few days, and from my superficial examination of the ground, this report could furnish but little beyond general facts, and that any attempt on my part to go into minute details would be superfluous. I trust, however, that I may be permitted to inform you that the work of finding the oil may occupy considerable time, and although during the whole course of my experience I have never,- found such indications as those furnished by. your company's ground prove deceptive, I may not be able to,discover the oil at once. This may bo attributed to the fact that the bed of rook (the source of the oil) is extremely varied in width, sometimes only a few rods, in other places over a mile. From all I know to the contrary, the rock may be extremely narrow throughout, and I therefore* deem it my duty, both to the company and to myself, to inform you before commencing that

it is impossible for me to state how long it may be before oil is struck in payable quantities, but I have ho doubt as to the ultimate result. The boring apparatus, and the whole of the plant, appear to be in every way suitable, and when, a few additional timbers are procured X am ready to commence operations. I am, &c., . „ W. W. Parsons.