THE TARANAKI OILFIELDS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 106, 28 September 1914, Page 2

THE TARANAKI OILFIELDS

AN OFFICIAL REPORT. In the annual statement of the Minister for Mines, for the year 1913, there is a lengthy report on the Taranaki oilfield, written by Mr G. I'. Morgan, Director of Geological Surveys. It is too long for reproduction in full, but the following summary will be of interest. Mr Morgan inspected the field in February last, and states that as yet the production of petroleum at New Plymouth has not been sufficiently large to enable any final opinion concerning its future to be formulated. Government bonuses have been paid to the Taranaki Oil Wells, Ltd., on a certificated production of 500,000 English gallons of petroleum. The total production of the Nos. 2, 3 and 5 bores to February 25, 1914, is shown to be 733,972 gallons, but if to this be, added the oil produced by other wells, the total production of tile fit-Id to date still fa'ls far short of a million gal ons. Quoting Mr E. de C. Clarke's opinion, given in 1911, that the importance. and extent of the field still remains lo be proved, Mr Morgan says that lie "must take a Bomewhat similar attitude, hut since additional data of a favorable nature have been obtained since, he expresses the opinion that the prospects of the New Plymouth field at tlie present time are more promising than ever before in its history, and that, given proper development, the field will prove profitable. The discovery of considerable oil-pools in neighboring districts is also by no means unlikely. The imperfect data so far obtained are not inconsistent with the hypothesis that a gentle anticline, or, at any rate, some structure favoring the accumulation of oil, extends in an easterly or east-south-cast direction from the neighborhood of Moturoa. The present producing wells are on or near the crest of this supposed anticline. Since >the oil hitherto obtained is probably not indigenous to the strata in which it s found, but liail migrated from greater depths, the opinion may be expressed that the main oil horizon of the New Plymouth field is at a greater depth than that to which any bore lias yet penetrated. At Tikorangi, oil, if present in quantity, will probably be found at somewhat smaller depths than at Moturoa. This opinion is in accord with the views expressed by Hector McKay, and other geologists. Regarding the quality of the oil, Mr Morgan says it is valuable, with a paraffin base, and is worth at the well's mouth 10s or more per barrel of 42 gallons. For special purposes it has brought 15s to 17s Gd per barrel. The gas from Fetch's farm and other localities a few miles from New Plymouth lie pronounces to be petroleum gas, and he therefore concurs with Mr Clarke's recommendation that teh gas-producing belt of country extending for lo miles in an east-south-east direction from Moturoa should be prospected by boring. The water question is dealt with at considerable length. The occurrence of saline waters at various horizons in the Taranaki oilfields is, Mr Morgan says, an interesting and important fact, the full significance of which is not understood at the present time. He recommends the keeping of careful records of all water encountered in the bore, and also that complete analysis of the water from each horizon below 1600 ft be made from every bore. He found no conclusive evidence that water occurs in the New Plymouth field in such close proximity to the petroliferous strata that it cannot be excluded from them, and remarks that the proposed course to pursue, therefore, is to make every effort totally to exclude water from the bores before these reach any oil-bearing stratum.

Mr Morgan's report upon the alleged flooding of the oil-bearing strata has already been published. He advises the immediate use of regulations to ensure the exclusion of water and makes a number of suggestions as to the form those regulations should take.