PETROLEUM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 176, 30 August 1909, Page 2

PETROLEUM.

OPERATIONS AT MOTUROA. Satisfactory progress continues to be made at No. 3 well. On Thursday .the well was pumped dry, no water coming in from the upper vein. Tlie next day there was 300 feet of fluid in the well, and the quantity increased to 550 feet on Saturday, when Mr. Simpson cleaned out tlie cavings and drilled an additional five feet, making the total depth of the well 2583 feet. The manager proposes to go on drilling to a greater depth, if the formation at the base of the gas and oil vein will admit of it.

Mr. Berry reports that on Monday and Tuesday the staff at No. 2 bore were putting in the deep-well pump, which was finished at 11 a.m., and then : he pump rods put in, and about 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday started the pump, which n. one hour lifted a little over 11 barreis ot oil, water and silt, though it is only fair to say that the pump, was very much assisted by tlie gas opened up by the perforated pipes. On Wednesday it was found that the leather buckets used to pump tlie dirty oil out were won; cut, so they started pulling the rods at 11 a.m. and had them all out and to! again by 3.30 p.m. They pumped again to i) p.m., when a pin of the pump rod broke oil'. On Thursday, after recovering the broken rod, it was decided *o take the day to overhaul the boiUr, | which was getting pretty dirty. On Friday they put the rods back, when a second rod pin broke oil'; they drew the rods and put a new one 'in and started pumping again, and from than to 4 p.m., when -Mr. Berry left, the pump had drawn an average of 10'/, barrels per lionr. This seems a large quantity, but It shows what the pumps will do if tlie supply keeps up. Of course, this was not clean oil, but oil. water ami silt, as was to be expected after drilling and pumping out nearly 40ft of cav-

The concreting of the lower walls and bottom of the new tank' were finis ied on Saturday, and it is hoped to be ready for use to-morrow, as it will soon he required.

Mr. Charles Tu.vior, who is in America Investigating tlie nil liclds on behalf of tli ( . ICottikit Oil Springs .Syndicate, in tile course, of nn interesting letter, says dial in Canada people are mostly going ' :• the niiinufiii'tiirc of lubricating oil ' •■-■'inlt, "as tint Standard Trust do not hollier ulHint people wlio nianufiic tnre these oils, lint you must not touch kerosene or niiptha or they are down on I you. Oil men here are very muc'a taken up with our Kotuku oil, and say it is , just like the crude in Pennsylvania." In an interview at Greynioutli, referring to the Kotuku oil field, Mr. Zimnii stated that the Consolidated Company iiad invested C 10.000 with Mr. .Joseph Taylor, and intended to thoroughly >xploit the Koluku oil supply, as it" was sanguine thai Die crude oil which Mr. Taylor hiul already procured so near the surface was c(|iial in quality to any crude oil in the world, and where so much could he procured as had already been got it showed that more remained, fine thing that the ormpany had done since it had joined Mr. Taylor was to s'cud Mr, Charles Taylor through America to see for himself all the latest developments in oil-boring machinery, and, in fact, pick up as many wrinkles in connection with oil wells and their development us he could. He, would also learn where-to procure the necessary Machinery if such were at any time required. lie was now in Pennsylvania, and having already studied the subject well, would not take long to heroine ,»roliricnt in all the latest and most approved methods. The tests that had been got at Kotuku showed that it was 1 absolutely the best crude oil In the, world, and judging by appearances, there must lie a supply there which would doubtless prove highly profitable in thi! near future. ' '