OIL STRUCK IN ENGLAND.

Taihape Daily Times, 6 August 1919, Page 6

OIL STRUCK IN ENGLAND.

WELL AT CHESTERFIELD VALUABE DISCOVERY. . Not. a little excitement was creetad in Britain towards the end of M2l)’ iast by an officialoannouncement that mineral oil had been discovered in England. 011 was struck on the night of May 27 near Chesterfield in the Hardstoft No. I.boring at a depth Of. 'approXima'toly, 300ft_ The oil rose to a. height of 400 ft. The American drillers said it was a “Very fine show.” The oil was found almost exactly where it’ “’‘.s expected, and Government experts who have been associatqed with the work _v,vel-ed very- much

pleased with the discovery. A sample 9:‘ the 911, on being tested, was f_oull<l to be of high quality.

' Seven bores were in progress at "the time, and other-S besides Hardstoft No. 1 were regarded as highly promising. Discussing the flow of oil the London Times said the discovery was full of promise for the _t‘uture;‘ a strike like this is one of seven experimental drillJings is I'ema.rka.ble_. Boring for oil ‘in a new country, ‘éwild catfinw,” as it is called, is, and always must be, the riskiest of advcntures_ Texas was known to be petroliferous for 10 years before a strike was made, a new field is being opened in Oklahoma at this moment in an area where a long record of uninterrupted failures was held to haVc disproved the possibility of success; and no one who has dipped into the history of oil in .~\lnel"icn, Mexico, Russia, or anywhere else, will for an instant expect all the wells that have been sunk round Chesterfield to be productive. That would be a miracle beyond all rational anticipation.

WIDE RANGE OF OUTPUT. .. ._...._.:-.-.21--v‘--I-an-»-—----<~ -4‘ ~'“‘'‘''''‘'‘‘''‘'''‘ Even if :: definite well is Dl‘OVCd: 351 it has been proved at Hardstoft, it may turn out to be a poor or a moderately rich well; or, again, it may be productive almost beyond imagination. When the first bore was put down near Chesterfield last October, Lord Cor;dl-ay insisted on this. He said that the average yield of all the World at that time was no more than five ‘tons per day, but that there were some wells which gave as much as K7OOO tons it day. ‘ It is just within the range of 1308-} sibility that one of these very rich ‘wells has been struaz in DerbysHirc,] “and that possibility may induce, even! the most sceptical to imagine what isuch a discovery would mean_ Its‘ results in industry and commerce’ would be almost incalculablc; the wealth which it would set free Would} be huge, and would be produced with“; great rapidity. Its benefits would‘ have their effect, direct or indirect, in‘ every household throughout the United Kingdom. It would be justly comparable with the discovery of the uses of steam; and once again, as after the Napoleonic wars, a totally unexpected discovcry Would. change the whole face of industry and would nu]lify, almost certainly, the loss and destruction of Wealth that war has involved.

But no one should be seduced for more than a moment by these golden prospects. This, however, can be said, that the flow of oil in the Hardstoft dri‘ling does bear out the convictions and expectations of Lord Cowdray’: experts. and that. for the first time, mineral oil,Aof a high qual-

ity, and in substantial quantity, even at its firs? .fl_9“.' has been. discovered in Englaiici. The discovery is due to the confidence and persistence of Lord Cowdrtly, based on the skill of his experts. Lord CO\Vdl'ay’S firm are Working as agents of ‘the Government. The firm are giving the services of their staff free of char-ge to the -Governnient-, which ‘is paying the other expenses of the work_ The experimental borings are being made on information gather-eff by Lord Cowdray, and given by -him to the Government. As a condition of this gift, he stipulatedthat the Government should prohibit promiscuous boring, and this has been done. All controversial questions, such as royalties and the determintaion of property rights and interests in the ,oil produced. and the future conduct of the industry, have been postponed until the presence of oil ill commercial quantities is proved.