PETROLEUM NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 59, 18 June 1910, Page 4

PETROLEUM NEWS.

, Says Monday's Lyttelton Times:—The , oi! pioneers seemed to be within reach of triumphant success at any time during . the last three or- four years. Their dogged persistence in the face of difficulties and disappointments has Deen admirable, and the whole country will re- '. joiee with them in the news that the outiook ''has never been more encouraging" than it is at present. Three wella are stated:' to :be delivering oil, though apparently not in quantities sufficientfy large to justify the erection of a refinery. The enterprise is so fraught with possibilities of profit to the whole country that we should like to see the Government taking a more active interest in 'the work that is 'being done by private companies. The question of whether the oilJbeds which undoubtedly exist in Taranaki are capable of commercial development can be answered only by the making of experimental bores, but in the meantime there are State interests thait should not 'be overlooked. The men woo have risked their capital in the ventuTe are entitled to the profits that will come from a large production of petroleum. The public, on the other hand, should have some assurance that New Zealand oil will not feed the grasping monopoly which ihas bled the consumers in this country for many years past, and which, in other part sof the world, lias used its enormous financial power to suppress competition. If the Government exercises no supervision over private enter".ise in Taranaki, it may learn too late that the control of the oilfield has passed into the hands of men whose only objert is ruthless exploitation.