PETROLEUM NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 126, 6 September 1910, Page 5

PETROLEUM NEWS

PARLIAMENTARIANS' VISIT. Only four of the large party of Par* liamentarians who signified their intention of visiting the oilfield at Moturoa were able to make the trip yesterday. They were Messrs. G. J. Anderson (member for Mataura), R. Scott (member for Tuapeka), J. Duncan (member for Wairau), and Mr.-11. Okey. The first three | gentlemen came on from Eltham (where tlicv had been inspecting the country served by the proposed Opunake railway) in the morning, and were shown over the local gaol. Early in the afternoon the party proceeded to the wells. Th y were accompanied by the president of the Taranaki Chamber •of Commerce (Mr. E. Griffiths), the president of the Tradesmen's Association (Mr. €. Baker), the Mayor (Mr. ti. Tisch), the chairman of the Harbor Board (Mr. J. B. Connett), the chairman of directors of the Taranaki Petroleum Company (Mr. C. Carter) and several of his fellow directors, the chairman of the Oil and Freehold Company (Mr. Corkill) and others. On arrival at the field, the party werej taken in hand by the manager of the company (Mr. Keith), and first shown over No. 3 bore, which has been flowing at the rate of thirty barrels a day for the past few days. The oil, as has been explained before in these columns, comes up through the casings, end doea not represent by any means the full ca« pacity of the well. The 4-incli casing has been inserted to" a depth of 2800 feet, and it was while the casing in the lower level was being put in that the oil came away. When the remainder of the casing comes to hand (it had to ibe procured in England) in about four; weeks' time, the casing will be lowered to the full depth of the well, oilflii feet, and it is then confidently «x« pected that a large and highly profitable! How will result. It is necessary to explain that until the bore is cleared to the bottom the oil from the lower and known measures cannot come away freely, that which is now being gained having to force its way through the

eavings. The visitors manifested keen interest in the operations. Thev were shown the driving and drilling machinery, its operations being fully explained by Mr. Keith. Outside the flow of oil there is very little to be seen at this well, work being practically suspended till the arrivnl of the required casing. A gang of men are engaged in making a big underground tank close by, the present one being nearly full. The new tank will hold over 40,080 gallons. The party then moved on to No. 2, where things are in a more advanced stage. The well's output shows no sign of diminishing. It has been flowing now for eight months continuously, giving off twenty barrels of the finest and richest petroleum yet discovered in the world, in three underground tanks are stored nearly 100,000 gallons of oil. The construction of another air' much larger, tank will have to be take: in (hand almost immediately.

The party were next shown the" Value of the natural gas as a fuel. The whole of the plant at No. 2 and Xo. 1 is, as is known, driven by the aid of the gas that is emitted in considerable quantity from the 'bore. The visitors were first shown the furnace heated normally. Then, to show the extent of this novel kind of fuel, the taps were turned on full. There was a hiss and a roar, and the furnace assumed .th? form of a very inferno, compared with which the ordinary coal or wood fire is but a labored flame.

"Come outside," said the manager, "and have a look at the chimney." Not a sign of smoke was to be seen. It was a convincing exhibition of the value and economy of mineral gas as a fuel. The party were then shown the miniature refining plant, from which some excellent samples of kerosene, benzine, petrol, lubricating oils, paraffin wax, vaseline, etc., have been obtained. These were not new to the members of Parliament, as Mr. Okey some time ago had a set of samples placed in the Parliamentary buildings.

Aii adjournment was made to No. 1 bore. Here the drilling machinery was in full motion in "reaming" the bore. 11l , the late Mr. Fair's time, a six-inch bore was put down, and at a depth of about' 2300 feet oil was struck. The shares went up with a bound, and the present company was formed. The well remained sealed for some time and evidently silted up. About two months ago the work of withdrawing the casing was taken in hand, and several of the lower lengths were found to bo considerably damaged and far from watertight. The work of extracting these was attended with considerable difficulty, but finally it was safely accomplished. The well is now being widened or "reamed'" to admit of the insertion of aji eight-inch casing, this making it easier to deal with any' obstructions that might be found at the bottom. The well has now been reamed from IGOO to 1700 feet, and work is proceeding day and night, so in the course of a few weeks it is expected to have the well finished. It is confidently expected that the well will yield as well as any of the others. The visitors watched the operations with keen interest, and appeared to be much impressed with what they saw.

The remarks of the members in the visitors' hook are worth recording. Mr. Duncan stated: "Deserving of every encouragement." Mr. Anderson: "Promises to be a great national industry." Mr. Scott: "Trust the enterprise will be rewarded by the most successful results." Dr. Harrison, of Clifton, Bristol. England, father of Dr. Harrison, of Eltham, who accompanied the pavtv, expressed himself in these words: "Very much interested. Prospects good in my inexperienced observation." The visitors were afterwards driven to the harbor, where they inspected -the works and saw the new dredge Paritutu in operation. Later, they we're taken in hand by His Worship the MayoT, arid; shown the Hospital, Pukekura Park and other places of interest.