OUR OIL RESOURCES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 273, 15 May 1912, Page 7

OUR OIL RESOURCES

VAST QUANTITIES WAITING TO BE TAPPED. (London Daily News, March 22), Mr. J. D. Henry, the well-known oil expert, arrived in London yesterday, after visiting some of the oilfields in the British Empire, including those of New Zealand. Finding England in the thick of the coal strike, he gave a Daily News representative some of his latest impressions as to the future of liquid fuel. "I see," he remarked, "that Dr. Diesel, the inventor of the marvellous Diesel engine, was here a few days ago. Undoubtedly his discoveries have completely upset the calculations of liquid fuel advocates who looked forward to the prospect of oil being used for many years to come in place of coal for the generation of steam. The Diesel engine opens up new vistas. But I hardly think that Dr. Diesel's belief in the future of kerosene, artificially distilled from coal-tar, will be justified by the course of events. "Very few people have any conception of the quantity of oil that is waiting to be tapped, Vast oil deposits are being discovered in all directions —north, south, east and west. One of the most sensational industrial developments of the next five years will be the opening up of the Chinese oil fields. There is also reason to believe that Japan, and some of the smaller islands in the Far East, will, yield a considerable supply.

"In Africa Somaliland offers excellent prospects, and we may anticipate the speedy development of fresh oilfields in British Columbia. New Zealand would appear to have a great and prosperous oil future, so great that in a few years the Dominion's output of oil may be more valuable than her output of gold. So you see that Creat Britain's native supply of kerosene is likely to be a very small factor in the situation."

In many parts of the world the great search for oil —a search as pregnant with romantic possibilities as gold prospecting —is proceeding apace. The moment the winter snows have melted in North-West Canada, for example, hundreds of drilling parties will get to work, and any day may bring news of some find worth more in cash than a new Klondyke. One of the most thrilling chapters in the History of man's race for wealth and power will" deal with oil prospecting during the next twenty years.