PETROLEUM NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8153, 10 July 1906, Page 2

PETROLEUM NEWS.

When tho directors of the Taranaki Petroleum Company and othor gentlemen visited Mr Petch's farm on the Carrington road last Friday, to see the reported indications of oil, it seemed almost too good to bo believed, so Mr M. Eraser, of Messrs Burgess & Co., and J. W. Wilson, New Plymouth manager for Arch. Clarke & Co., two of the directors, since paid a surprise visit to the site, armed with the necessary tools to further prospect the find. The hole or fissure from which the oil was oozing, was situated some seven feet above the stream on the side of a hill. Begining at the level of the water the gentlemen named removed ak soil above the solid rock, and at a depth of about 7 feet below the surfioe level they came upon a gray, sandy papa formation, through a fissure in which bubbled up the gas, carrying with it a liquid p :ls t e strongly impregnated with c 'iide petroleum. From the position and distance in which this was obtained thero is no room for doubt of its being absolutely genuine. " upon Mr Fair's return, workmen wiU be taken there to further dovelope it- -A- sample of the mud wis tested by Mr Teed, and he is now ent : re'y satisfied that it is crude petroleu u. The fact tint oil is found some six miles inland from the present flowing well serves to show that the field is of far greater extent than at first anticipated. The same directors in looking for the gas on Mr Gilbert's farm, another property over which the Company have boring rights, also found crude petroleum there, but not in such quantities so far as found on Petch's. The Taranaki Petroleum Company, Limited, hold the boring rights of both the above properties and also of some three others adjoining, aggregating some 1000 acres. There can now bo no question of the value of this Had and this Company deserve < its good luck, which later on will be shared by all residents of this favored district.

The programme of tho Taranaki I Petroleum Company includes the sinking of four new bores at Moturoa. Then "Mr Samuel's bore " —where the disastrous fire occurred after splendid indications liad been struck, will be cleared out, ani that at the root of the breakwater at the rear of the blacksmith's shop will be reopened.

The excellent indications, or the proved presence of petroleum at Petch's farm on the Carrington road, may alter the programme somewhat, so that operations may be conducted simultaneously at this point and a' Moturoa.