PETROLEUM NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 220, 22 October 1909, Page 2

PETROLEUM NEWS.

CONFERENCE WITH DR. BELL. Last evening the directors of the Taranaki Petroleum Company, the Taranaki Oil and Freehold Company, and tl'i lnglewood Oil and Prospecting Company, together with the managers of the two Unit-named companies, held a conference with Dr. J. SI. Bell, M.A., Ph.D. F.R.G.S., Director of the Geological Survey branch of the Government Mines Department. The proceedings were private, at the request of Dr. Bell. To-day he will "be consulting maps, etc., at the local Survey Office, and visiting bores in the vicinity of New Plymouth. To-mor-row he goes to lnglewood, the directors of the lnglewood Oil and Prospecting Company, acting as cicerones. Dr. Bell will 'be in the district for a fortnight, during which lime he will vsiit the Waitara, Mokau and Awakino districts. ACTIVITY AT* NO. 3 BORE. Yesterday afternoon, during the visit of Dr. Bell to the ffarauaki Petroleum Co.'s No. 3 well, the bore made a "demonstration" on its own account, running pure oil for several minutes. Later in the afternoon a further flow tooic place, and the oil was run into the underground tank, probably to the extent of six or seven barrels,

THE NO. 2 TEST. The local directors of the Taranaki Petroleum Co. have written to our c«i temporary as follows: The first part of Mr. 1). Berry's lett,;r in your issue of Monday last calls for no comment from Us 1 as it descends to personalities in which shareholders are not interested. In Mr. Berry's letter of the loth inst. he makes reference to the barrels of oil in the iron shed, To use bis own words, he says: "But. more astounding still to me was the fact that none of these were filled; in fact, upon a man being sent out to fill them at my request' lie found that it took from 10 to 20 gallons to fill each of them.'' Unfortunately for Mr. Berry, men who helped to fill these barrels have come forward after seeing the above statiment in print and absolutely state ill writing that it did not require more than one and a-lialf gallons, on an average, to refill then). Shareholders may wonder why the barrels referred to required refilling at a||. The reason i-' this: that they -were second-hand when procured, some of them not absolute';.' tiglft. anil exposed to the weather prior to the shed being built. Mr. Berry makes further reference to water being put in the No. 1 underground tank u 11 asks for nn explanation, which is as follows: When this tank was constructed, with a view to ascertaining if any leaks existed in the bottom, water was pumped in prior to r any oil being put in it, anil at a later date, when the pump was inserted, it was found that only some two buckets l of water could be pumped out. There is no foundation for the idea that there is now a foot of ■water in this tank. Mr. Berry takes exception to our reference to steamed oil, and points to tile agreement mentioning onlv crude nil. (j'uite right, Mr. Bcrrv, not crude oil and silt. The method adopted (o separate the oil from the silt is by steaming, when the oil is drawn oil' from the top and the silt left behind. Let us refresh Mr. Berry memory on the point of steamed oil. "When interviewing the directors' on the afternoon 'of the 11th inst. Mr. Berry informed us that the oil was being steamed that afternoon preparatory to the measuring taking place. The arrangement wis then maile for Mr. Sladden to be on the ground the following morning at 7.30; this early hour was fixed because of Mr. Sladden having to be out of town during the day. Mr. Berry s strictly correct when he says that lie did not personally assume supervision of No. 2 bore until August 5; but as' Mr. Simpson was released of all control of No. 2 bore on duly 23, and driller Erlandsoii was placed in charge for the ' purpose of preparing for Mr. Berry's test, practically the bore was under Mr. Berry's supervision from Hiat date. Tn other words, exit Mr. Simpson, enter Mr. Berry. To reduce the whole contention to the onlv fact of importance to shareholders is "this—that Mr. Berry undertook to win in 24 working days' .480 barrels of oil. which would make shares worth from 20s to 30s each.. Has Mr. Berry done this? For the answer shareholders are referred to Mr. Slalden's report as to the measurements, and to the sharemarket as to the value of shares. The final clause in M\ ! Merry's' letter can scarcely be taken as in good tiistc when he says he regrets we are a little out of our element in managing such a pnrelv technical company as this. 'Considering that Mr. ller-y has onlv attained to some 25 per cent, of his esllniiife of his own capabilities, he is applying a much higher stamlarl to us than Unit attained bv himself.We are, etc..

C. E. TVELLRIXGEU. J. B. HOY. C. CARTER.

CKTTI.Xi; IX KAIILY. Jill. BKRRY'S. I'OUUY. A copy of the following circular letter has reached ou r hands:

To thi' Shareholders of tile Tamiinki Petroleum Co., Ltd. Vp'u will have seen by the .Newspaper Reports that I have done some good by wakening np the management of your company, but much yet rema inn tp be done, Will you poutiiiiK- tl)e good work by either attending tlui annua) tn'pcting about the Btli Xoyember, or sign the attached proxy and return to. me, or to some person you can trust to hear both sides and vote accordingly? The ultimate success of the company in, I consider, assured under proper and careful nianug;<ment, but certainly not otherwise. As a large shareholder, our interests are Hie same, and I confidently rely on your support.—Yours faithfully, " DANIEL BERRY. Chairman of the company from its inception until Hay lasi, when i retired as a protest, anil to obtain a freer hand to work in the interests of the shareholders. New 'Plymouth, 20th October, 1009. (Tile proxy form is attached).