THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1913. WAIRARAPA OIL FIELDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 23 May 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1913. WAIRARAPA OIL FIELDS.

The indications of the existence of petroleum in various parts of the East Coast are so pronounced, that it seems almost incredible that no steps have been taken by the Government to obtain a detailed geological survey of the district. The demands that are being made aipon petroleum as a commercial product are extending so rapidly, that it is the duty of every State to assist private enterprise in developing those areas that are known to be. oil-bearing. Some yeans back the Government offered a bonus for the production of a certain quantity of crude petroleum, and this was secured by an enterprising Taranaki Company, 'me Hon R. MoKenzde, when Minister of Public Works, 'made, am absolute promise that he would extend the scope,of the. geological investigations of? tlie Survey Department, but, for reasons best known to the Minister himself, this promise wag never redeemed. The Hon Fraser, who is now in cliarge of the Public Works and Mines Department, will probably be impressed with the importance, from a Dominion as well as a national point of view., of encouraging the development of our oil resources. It is now more than a quarter of century since Professor Park wrote on the Bubject of the probable discovery of oil in the Waiirarapa. Mr Morgan, of the Geological Department, mad* » flying irif »v«p a, small portiom of the die-

trict in 1910, and ha disc 4 TOT od evidences of the existence o € j oil m many parts. A siKjcimen of from the Akitio station was f /OTL t to Dr Mis Lauriu, and was by him to the Geological R.'porfcling on this, Mr Morgan said:—

"The rook, smells Tory distinctly of kerosene m petroleum, and presumably \jontains a light oil similar to ',nafc of the Gisborne district. It va? t y reasonably be inferred that petrjoknmi occurs in some quantity bi thft neighbourhood, but whether b \jring should bo undertaken or not .must be settled by a thorough examination of the locality by some competent person. To determine boring sites, a detailed geological

survoy would be necessary." When Mr J. D. Henry, the representative of a British syndicate, was in the Dominion a year or two back, ho visited the East Coast district, and submitted a detailed report in; which he urged that a thorough survey be made. "It is," he said, "surprising that, although it is bo many years since Professor Park reported upon these Wairarapa oil indications, l and seeing that they have baen known to exist for at least forty years, scarcely anything has been done by the Government Geological Survey Department, or private enterprise to settle the question of whether there are paying oil sources in that district." Private enterprise is ready and willing to exploit the oil-bearing areas once a thorough survey has been made to establish the existence of oil in paying quantities. We take it to be the duty of the Geological Department, however, to make a detailed survey, and we have confidence in appealing to the Hon W. Fraser to give the necessary instructions in the matter. If it can be demonstrated, as experts believe it can, that a vast oil-belt extends from the Kaiwhata river through to Weber, it will at once be seen that the existence of such a belt has an important bearing upon the movement for opening up the East Coast by railway, as well as upon the general prosperity of the Dominion. In all the circumstances, we are of opinion that the Minister of Minos would be failing in a duty he owes the country if he decs not immediately authorise the detailed survey that has been recommended b> the head of his own department, and has b.'en promised by his predecessor in office.