PETROLEUM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 174, 27 August 1909, Page 4

PETROLEUM.

AN EARLY REPORT. At the present juncture the following report of .\lr. Booth, head driller of the old New Plymouth Petroleum Company, written in 1801 and forwarded to the London directors, is of interest: — "We are dow.i over DUUft now and are in oil. Il is the most valuable oil I have ever yet seen. Without going auy deeper we could now pump up about four bun-els of oil each day—that is, 100 gallons jier day. The success of t ? H company is now certain. It would pay well to pump four such wells and reiine the oil. hut the more wells the better. I am sure twenty such wells can be bored so near the present one as to be pumped with the same engine. If wages are paid I intend to go down another 20ftft., if I do not sooner come to a lighter oil which rises freely, and I am expecting that every foot deeper I go. It will take about three weeks to si:ik another 20iifi. I say again, that unless I am stopped, the success of the company is certain. 1 recommend sinking the pro-out bore another 200 ft., then sinking some five or six other wells in the vicinity of the present one to what 1 find the necessary depth. These would com. from C") 00 to £OOO each, to a depth of 1200 ft. each. Vivo such weds, even if we do not improve the How of oil, would certainly yield twenty barrels a day. which would pay well to refine; ami as -success is a certainty, a refinery should he erected and a refinery plant procured, su ;is to get a return on the: outlay. The smallest plant 1 ever saw would do to begin with, and 1 never saw cue less than a three-still plant, which i would run oflT MOO barrels a week. This, I think, would cost from C3OOO to C4OOO. The company must get a man who understands refining, as I do *ibt profess to do so. Machinery for pumping the wells, if necessary, can be got in the colony for about £3OO, I think. I cannot' give you any advice or he*'p about funds. The men will hot work beyond Saturday next if they are not paid, and if they stop 1 must stop also. 1 do not understand what the directors arc about."

What followed is told by Mr. Samuel: "Immcditely after this th« d-rilling tools' got jammed and one of the poles parted. The result was that, as -funds were not forthcoming, work was suspended; and, after some months' delay, the men were paid off and the works shut down. For a time the drillers wore retained, in the hope of funds being again raised or a new company being formed in England, but nothing came of the efforts made if. l London (no doubt partly because of ■ the commercial crisis in 189*2 and 18fli>). and New Zealand creditors took proceedings with 'regard to the sale of the 1 ] lant. Towards the end of 181)3 I visited England, and endeavored to previv.it the sale of the plant, which 1 felt sure would cause the undertaking io be abandoned altogether, hi the end I arranged for raising a loan in Xew Zealand, on security of the company's assets, to pay all the Xew Zealand debts, and secure six months' time during which to raise capital. The time elapsed, and ! the company being unable to do anything, 1 formed a small syndicate, at Xew Plymouth of men who "were interested in the welfare of the district, and who were willing to spend a little money in the hope of developing the wealth which we trusted was lying dormant here. We procured drillers, *copened the works, and attempted to clear the bore, but our efforts were unsuccessful. J then met Mr. R. E. Fair, of Sydney, one of an Australian firm of artesian-well-borers, who had succeeded in sinking wells to great depths, and who had previously had some experience in oil-boring in Australia and Roamania. Mr. Fair was very sanguine oi success, and proceeded with me to Australia, where he induced some persons with whom he was acquainted to join him in arranging with me (representing the Xew Plymouth syndicate) to bore! to the depth of 1005 ft, in consideration, of an equal share with us in the assets, j Mr. Fair then took charge of operations,' supplied some new plant, and sun* a i bore near the abandoned one to the depth of 1000 ft. Oil was struck at 005 ft., but water had not been shut off. but I understood from Mr. Fair that the water in the bore rose and foil with the tide-nshowing that there must be some fissure communicating with the beach 'below high-water mark. The Xew Zealand syndicate then formed a company, but recognising the tendency which those engaged i:i niinipg exploration of (fvery description have to exaggerate the chances of success, we did not place an* shades on the market, but issued only the shares applied for bv the members of the. syndicate. For some reason, which ha.s never been explained (probably because he thought the yield too trilling, and that to leave a bore open, with water not shut off, might spoil the oil in the vicinity), Mr. Fair (who was appointed managing d'm-tor) had the bore which he had driven (called Xc>. 1 bore) plugged up. most of the casing drawn, and abandone;l. Mr. Fair then -elected a site about a iiuile off in a soittherlv direction, an.l sunk a bore there to a depth of l.j;Uft., without getting any oil or gas. Ke abandoned this also of his own instance. Mr. Fair then selected another site, to the south-east of Xo. 1 bore, and theia drilled the third bore. In this oil, in i|ii;intitv at least ten oarrels per diem, was struck at about DOoft, This was, however, found to be a mud-vein with papa above, which constantly fell in and choked off the oil."