THE OIL AGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 51, 18 July 1912, Page 4

THE OIL AGE.

The announcement that the Taranaki Petroleum Company has found a market in New Zealand for 300 barrels of crude oil annually is important as an evidence of the vitality and progress of a new industry, but it is still more important as an indication of the growing popularity of' the oil engine (writes the Lyttelton Times), The supplies for which the Taranaki Company lias received applications are all from oil-engine users, and the quantity ordered shows that this form of prime mover is being largely used in the dominion. The oil engine is not, of course, a new invention. The first Diesel engine was placed on the market about fourteen years ago, and since that time a number of engineers have produced oil-combustion motors of their own. These engines have always possessed a high reputation for efficiency, and recent developments in the production of oil have brought-them into great prominence. The production of crude oil is increasing annually at present, according to Dr. Rudolf Diesel, at three and a-half times the rate of production of coal. There is probably more liquid fuel in the world to draw upon than there is coal, and the world's present annual output of mineral oil is so great that 40 per cent, of it would supply motive power for the whole of the naval and mercantile fleets of the woild. The principal argument advanced against the oil engine in years gone by was the uncertainty of obtaining oil* supplies, but that argument can 110 longer be used. An interesting exhibit at the Turin exhibition of 1911 was a stand on which were mounted a steam turbine and a large Diesel engine, both made by Tosi, of Milan, and both fed with oil fuel. The Diesel engine used only 40 per cent, of the fuel used bj r the steam engine and developed the same power. The utility of the oil engine as a cheap motive power has been further extended in the past two or three years by improved methods of refining the products of coal distillation, and coke plants rendering the tar and tar oils fit for fuel for the Diesel and other oil engines. Almost any kind of oil, mineral or vegetable, can be utilised. Castor oil, train oil, shale oil, even peanut oil have betn successfully used. By reason of the cheapness of its working and the plentiful supplies of its fuel the oil engine grows ever a more and more formidable competitor with other power producers,and many eminent engineers have prophesied that the age of steam is nearly over and the age of oil is commencing. In view of the importance of cheap power to a country with New Zealand's industrial aspirations the development of the oil resources of the North Island is, concludes our contemporary, a matter for hearty congratulation.