PETROLEUM NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 3 April 1907, Page 2

PETROLEUM NEWS.

The Taranaki IVlrolcuni Company are hurrying on matters at the works, yesterday, the chairman of directors (Mr D. Berry) and Air Black (the Corporation electrical manager) were busily engaged arranging for electric light installation at the principal bores. With the light installed, shifts will he worked at night time as well as during the day. The directors are inviting the. representatives of the. leading colonial newspapers to the exhibition to be held at the Birthday well next Thursday week or thereabouts. The exact date will be duly advertised. The directors arc dedetermincd to give an exhaiistivetri.il of the capacity of the well, and will let the well run for a number of hours.

Some' time ago the. company wrote to Messrs A. F. Craig and Co., Paisley, Scotland, the leading petroleum machinery makers of the world, for quotations for a refining plant for the Taranaki oil, and forwarded to Scotland several berrcls of the crude peroleuni. By thecourtesy of the chairman, we have been allowed to peruse the correspondence. Inter alia, Alessrs Craig and Co. state; :

"The oil is of exceptional quality; in fact, it is the most superior we have examined. There, might be a market i,u this country for such an oil, but as it would have'to be dealt with by ill,!"-, fei'onl methods than in use 'in the? Scotch oil works, it is not lik<:ly that any of the Scotch companies would care to take it in. We are sending you samples of the products, which you will see are exceptionally fine. Wo are now making up our estimate of the necessary plant required for refining tits oil, add will let you have it as soon as we possibly can." The analysis is prc.lt v well the .same as that of the New Zealand Government Analyst, made over a year ago. Wo take the following salient points from Alessrs Craig and Co.'s analysis:— Results'of the iirst distillation:— Crude spirit, 21.53 per cent, sp. gr. .708; Crude petroleum, 2."i.74 per cent, sp. gr. .824; heavy oil, 47.15 per cent, sp. gr. .8115, 00 dcgrec.s Fahr.; residum, 1.35. Helmed products: spirit, 14,31 (.75115); kerosene, first quality, 32.00, 7(1 .leg. K, second quality, 0.25, 7(i deg. ]<\, Total! 38.25; gas oil, 14.81; spindle oil. 8.7b; roliucd wax, 10.70; residue oil from wax. 1.80; residum. 2.22. The products are all of excellent quality, color and smell, and there is a large proportion of wax of high melting point Chemical examination of the products proves the crude petroleum to conta n only a very small proportion of un-alu-rated hydrocarbons, and to resemble in character and purity Pennsylvania!! petroleum. We are asked lo state that shareholders desirous of doing so niav peruse, the lull report at the company's oli'u-c.