PETROLEUM NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 245, 16 April 1912, Page 4

PETROLEUM NEWS.

TARANAKI (N.Z.) OIL WELLS, LTD.. The prospects of the above company will be worth closely scrutinising. A • v:it (!.;.! i.-v...- is, of course, known today with regard to the geological characteristics of oil-bearing strata than engineers and experts were acquainted with 10 or 12 years ago, and, therefore, it may be generally taken that if a report from recognised experts (such as Mr. J. D. Henry and Dr. James Mcintosh Bell) is favorable to the discovery of oil, then people can, with every confidence, subscribe. A favorable report has been made by these experts. Considerable amounts of money were lost in the past owing to inexperience and incompetence, boring and well-sinking haying taken place in which were absolutely barren of oil, or sites chose* that were not suitable. There is little excuse for this to-day, a 8 probable oilbearing strata are nearly as traceable as reef series on a gold proposition. The shares of the new company that are now being offered to the public are being much sought after. Then* are many reasons for this. Firstly, •hareholders will know that the men at tha head of affairs are oil-men as ufcll a& business-men. Operations will be und& the very best expert management, whica will have at its immediate disposal up-to-date plant, etc., and will therefore be able to give shareholders the very best results. Secondly, there will only be a limited number of shares available in the Dominion. We have in Taranaki an oil-field of great promise, and when development takes place we may expect largo supplies of petroleum. The wells will be made to produce a very much larger quantity of oil than any have yet done. We may fully expect to see wells, when pumped, producing anything from 70 to 100 barrels each <lay. We have in New Zealand and Australia a market for all our supply for some time to cqj»< and we can give them Taranaki oil of a far superior quality to anything now being supplied.

Those who follow' the oil business closely know tliat the foreign oil fields are not proving the success they were a few years ago. The producing is rapidly diminishing. The reason is obvious. All these big fields must have an end. Millions of tons of oil have been taken out, only to be replaced by water. Wellknown geological experts 'say that in a few years the oil-fields' of 'the United States will be no more. In Taranaki we have virgin oilfields, with stores of petro- * leum untouched, and only awaiting the drills to recover. The cost of shipment is very small as compared with other fields. Here we have the port of shipment only a few hundred yards from our wells, whilst other fields have to pipe the oil hundreds of miles at a verv heavy cost, which cost in itself would be ft substantial dividend to the new company. A good, sound proposition, such as the Taranaki (N.Z.) Oilwells, Ltd., should prove a good dividend-paying concern.

This company has a very considerable area of oil lands, and as development progresses some of the lands will be sold as subsidiary concerns, thereby increasing the value of shares in the parent company. We may expect to see this done in the very near future.

POSSIBILITIES OF AN OIL COMPANY.

In 1902 the Burma Oil Company, Ltd.. started operations in Burma, and they paid the following dividends:—loo 2-3-4. 15 per cent.; 1005, 10 per cent.; 1906, 20 per cent.; 1007, 30 per cent.; 1908, 30 per cent.; 1009. 30 per cent.;. 1910. a bonus on fully paid-up shares of 50 per cent., plus an interim dividend of 10 per cent.

The Californian Oilfields. Ltd., registered 1901, paid in 1903-4 10 per cent.; 1904-5, 20 per cent.; 1905 (six months), 15 per cent.; 1900, 30 per cent.; 1907 40 per cent.; 1908, 30 per cent.; 1900 35 per cent.; 1910, 32y„ per cent.