The Petroleum Venture.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7857, 27 June 1905, Page 2

The Petroleum Venture.

HISTORY OF FAST. BOEING OPERATIONS. PROMISING, INDICATIONS. iAt the present juncture, when intense interest is being manifested in tho of boring operations at 1 Motu.-oa, a few* fuels concerning thu provioiiK history of the venture imay !>c opjwtuno. Speaking generally it may fce said that Bince the (iO's, .when attention was directed to the -iplondid indications oi' petroleum deposits in the district, the prottpoqtr ing, work dono until thv< ythr IHHO was ineffective, as no bore had been put down to any considerable depth, though even at shallow depths oil was found. For the particulars of the enterprise for the last fifteen years we ar« indebted to the courtesy of Mr O. Samuel, who first engager! in the enterprise in lHSft and continued: to .1901, and has dew ted iimr'i, time 1 and cupital in emdeavourilife to prove the existence of oil in payable quantities, and who is recognised as one of tjiie best loc.al authorities on Ilic subject.

Operations wore undertaken in 1890 by an Engl'ish syndicati- known as iho New Zealand Peitroleimi and lion Syndicate. Ltd., with a nominal capital of £!i5,000. Mr Samuel was ;i partner in and the Colonial reprcscntitiveof the .syndicate, and Mr Corkill the locial secretary. Tho most promising fJite, from, the j>ros]K*ets previously obtafmed, appeared to bo at the r.opt of the breakwater. Small quantities of oil were struck at a depth of about SOO feot, but subsequently dissensions'arose between tho ■directoifc and the head driller. Tho funds transmitted from England running short, and the driller reporting that boring had become impracticable and oil unobtainable operations wore suspended.

In 1893 Mr Samuel, whilst on a visit to England, marie arrangements 'with the English syndicato, which after his return culminated in his forming a New Plymouth syndicate -which liquidated liabilities of its predecessor and took over the boring rights nd plant. This syndicate engaged a driller to clear the olB) ,boro, with' a view to continuing there, but after the expenditure of a considrtabje sun. of money this attempt failed. About this time Mr H. E. Fair,( a brother of the present manager),who was boring for water in Australia, and had experience in oil boring in Gallicia and Canada, was very much impressed with the prospibts here. Mr Samuel and ho visfited Sydney togo-

ther, and made arrangements by whSch certain capitalists there, in .conjunction with Mr Pair, undertook to sink another liorc at Now Plymouth to a depth of at least 1000 feet, or payable oil, ami supply necessary plunti and 'casing. It wus arranged that should payable oil bo found Messrs Samuel and Fair should —after consult ng those wlnxm they respectively represented—form a company. .Mr Fair, accord ngly sunk a boro within, a lew feet of the preceding one. and oil was struck at a depth of about 875 feet. The oil at first flowed freely and appeared io lie in great quantity, so much so that Mr Fair reported to the syndicate that he had reached payable oil, and he and Mr Samuel proceeded to Sydney to form a company as arranged. It was, however, subsequently found impossible to shut o/I the water from below, and the result was that only two or three barrels of 42 gallons each could be got per day- The petroleum rose only at internals, a l ie; 1 the boro had been some hours capped, and all efforts to pump continuously failed. JJefore the company was formed'it'was definitely ascertained that a permanent flow of oil could not bo dependod upon. Many. thousands of shares had been already provisionally applied for, but Mr Samuel, on learning' of the altered position of affairs, with the approval of his co-directors, Major Parr is and Mr Newton King, returned all of the share money which turd boon Ihi id land oxplai,fijjcJ t'lio circumstances to the applicants. A company was subsequently lormed, but only on the basis of the existing members of the syndicate themselves taking up the whole of the shares. It was styled the New Flymo"tli Petroleum Company, with a nominal capital of toCKOOO, in shares, of whidrf half wure paid up shares. Mr Fair, managing director, had the bore lillod iia' at 1100 Sect. A r-w site was then selected on Mr Mace's farm at Herekawe, about half a milt; inland. This bbte produced no indications o£ uil or gas, and at 1534 feet operations were abandonod, and the boro filled in. Undeterred by this failure tihe company Cast round for another site, and put down a boro noar Mr Honeyfield's house, about a garter of a mile from the Breakwater. In this gas in a. great volume was struck at 908 feet,' follpiwed at 910 feet a line flow of petfloieuin oil, reported first at from 8 to 10 barrels per iify. tWie prami!*infe deppsit wus struck in soft papa,, and, after a few. weeks and when tihe company was beginning to sell its crude petf'olonni, the supply suddenly ceased to flow except at intervals, and theto mixed with mud. To add to the chagrin of the pilomotors at tho failure, just iiiH success appeared in view, the gas which was escaping took fire ajiU tiha derrick was burned down. The works howover, were re-crected arid openations resumed, as the company were very) iiopeful of #|gaAn striking tho supply. The explanation of the stoppage of the flow, .was believed to bo that the soft papa, of which tho roof of tho oil SQ&m was composed, having boon deprived of the support of tho formerly imprisoned, gas and olil, haxl collapsed, and thus choked the oil seam lying in tho vicinity of tho boro. After further efforts to pump out tho mud an'd water, the company resumed drilling. It was in this bore that numerous aecidcWs happened, and 'difficulty, was experienced In shuttling off the water. On ono oocasion the tools wore lost and could not lie recovered from tj.ic bore, but they were merely pushed on one side and (frilling proceeded with, as tho company were determined to have a thorough test at a lower lovel. At 1805' feet the bore passed through tho sedimentary pap(a rock and I'nU-ivd sandstone, which continued to 1976 feet, where a largo Quantity of gas and oil were f|tlr!uck. Deiipistc a, five im<4h (Sasjjng being put down, the water continued to seriously hamper operations, but .when it was shut oft oil was fop a brief tinft pumped up at the rat® of aUjout eight barrels per day, The amount soon decreased, Ifoiwcvelr, and after a few weeks tho 1 product was so Small as not to be worth tho expense of saving and barrelling! The bore, tho deepest yell sunk amd (jiving great promise of success in the locality, was left teased at a deptß of 1976 feet, a "d the boring plant removed elsewhere. The bore was afterwards kopt open tq|r atjout three years. Oil accumulated and was constantly obtained from it in small cpiantitics and exported, but tjh'e supply never exceeded the rate of one .barrel per day. Hhe next test was made on Mr Putt's farm (Spotswood), about 100 yards further west. While this bore was being put down Mr Ft E. Failceased his connection with the company, and returned to 1 'Australia. Mr 0. Samuel be,carp*; managing 'director, and supervised operations till 1901. various drillers doing Ilio practical work. In February, <1.398, a goo'l show of oil was encountered at 19-10 feet. This lessened subsequently, but again there was a good strike at 2000 feet. Water was successfully shut off and oil obtained for sonic time after, but it novor excooded one barrel per day. This not being a payable quantity drilling -was proceeded ; \vith throuq-h tho oil seam, and Continue!} to 2053 feet when, iliora being no sign of oil', this bore .was added to the list of those abandoned. i Tjje faith' of th'osej engaged in tKo venture remained unshaken, and to facilitate ilia .work' 8 now, Drilling plant was obtained from America in 1899. This 1 was erected on-Mr Okoy's farm, Frunkley lload, some four miles south-west of former workings, In 1 ft* bppo iSat i£» oil stratum would <

iTovt! richer inlund. Here, (Uthough ■ drilling was pvobtcuted vigorously, «ivf al jnonths elapsed before & depth of f!<)0 fcc L was reached, owing to Hlorgc fjj nullities of bt'oken volcanic rock, gravel and sand heing i>ncoiinteivd. It was found impossible to make any progress, the sand and gravel falling in with greater rapidity than ft could be cleaned out, and Consequently work ceased and tliw bore was abundoaod.

.Mr Veale's (arm, Frankley Road, . about half a mile nearer Moturoa, 1 was the scene of the next attempt, 'i Similar difficulties', owing to the volcanic nature of the uppsr formation, wore met with, but the papa was reached at 410 feet. The company continued Jioiing, until' a depth of 1220 feet was recorded, but as there wcru ao oil prospects the company then wenf into liquidation. A syndicate of New Plymouth' reside.nis bought the ylants and nights (sold 'liV 'ami continued the bore to a depth of 1835 foot, but no oil wus ooiained, although there was occasionally Kan, with a strong smell of petroleum. Mr Samuel acted as managing director for the s.yi> dicate, as he bad done for the liquidated company, and Mr McLisber, who had had very large exijcrtouw in drilling in connection; with'oil, eon-I i inuod ns head driller, This symdl-

i-ate merged into a new syndicate, j styled the Taranaki Petroleum Company, and In June J8!>!) a further I jboro was started on Mr Honpyfield'a farm at Moturoa, some 200 yards [j'rom<t)hq l>oro in m-Jiich oil hajd previously been obtained in the greatest quantity. The recotyis show Ihnt (fas' and oil were mot with at 908 foot and continued to 988 feet, where hard formatton was met, and mdicatiofis ceased. Oil at 1388 feet also Boon ceased. A similar result was recorded at 1152 foel, but at 1710 feet there was an eruption of gas and oil, thel utter lHMng momentarily ejected fur and wide. Water was shut off. The indicat'ons oi oil and "gas soon subsided, but agaiin at 1730 loot there was an explosion, tho gas sprouting the oil and mud to the top of tho derrick. Oil commenced to flow and continued tor about an 'hour. As it soon receded, and tho eras being exhausted, drilling was recommenced, and indications of oil gradually disappeared. Drilling was proceeded with as tho proximity

oJ oil in largo quantity was thought issured, but no further •discovery being made to a depth of 20.12' foot, the bore wa» then abandoned. The syndicate commcncdl their second venture on Honey field'B farm, within' a fow yards of that at which oil had .years be/ore been obtained at 910 feat. This l dept,h was, peculiarly enough, paused without jiny find, ind at 1055 feet the syndicate cried "off." Mr fi. C. Fair (brother of iho erstwhile manager) .representing i#i Australian syndicate under the title of •he N'«"'-v Zealaiid Oil Wells, recommenced operations over 12 montns 'iffo where the piwaent IJo re now ;& Work was continued to a depth of 2100 feet, when, utiHinst the advice of the manager, the syndicate retired from the field. Hhfc present com* pan.v. which has only a capital ol £2OOO and which includes a number of local shareholders and a local di-

rectorate, aC'ini i<ed the plant for £3OO. a gMt ntf the price. Within he Inst few wctM the bore has been :leopenod a further 150 fec-t with the gratifying result known. ( It will he seen that t hoso engag&l ! in the enterprise have had a ohatjuert'd experience, but this should foe n|o iiscourngeinent in regard to the present bore, \vh»cli is considerably deep•r (han nn.v of its predecessors, and offers every .iustilicht on for confidence in a_ future export trad<_\ It is intdi-eStinp to note that years ■igo a more or less regular expert trade was procooded with for co»n■tideraihly over twolvc months. 'Jlhe oil was principally supplied to «the Government! workshops at Pet<|'(c' and to companies for purposes. The yield did not, howover, exceed an averagei rate of onq l|airel [h»i- day, except for a. woejc or two afterr first striking oil in the various bores. One barrel per day was ifound totally insufficient to warrant ConUnuaftce.