PETROLEUM NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 272, 7 April 1911, Page 5

PETROLEUM NEWS

BLOW-OUT AT NO. 5. Yesterday afternoon Xo. 5 bore at Moturou showed great activity, there being two c.-aeiisive blows-out, the most vioieut (the head driller informed „<«*• reporter) that have yet been experienced at the bores. The first occurred at about 1.43 p.m., and lasted some twenty minutes before it settled down temporarily, only to be renewed ten minutes -later with still greater fo/ce, this timo lasting half an hour. When a little over 1500 feet had been reached yesterday, symptoms were given that a seam of gas was being encountered. This was quite unexpected. Instantly (there was a rush to withdraw the. tools. The force oi the gas, however, became so strong that, when the drill was within 200 feet of the top, it was shot out of its eight-inch casing with terrific force, completely wrecking 200 feet of cable. Instantly this was followed by another outburst of papa and silt, and with it stones were hurled against the derrick. Such was the force behind it that the debris wil thrown fully 80 feet above the derrlCK, which is itself some sixty feet high, ai .. the surroundings within" a radius of a quarter of a mile were soon covered wkV silt and mud. This distance must have been increased but for the fact that the derrick is roofed in. The bore is cased down to within eight feet of the bottom. This outburst is particularly encouraging, and suggests that oil will be struck sooner than was anticipated.