THE FUTURE OF OIL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 153, 29 June 1914, Page 4

THE FUTURE OF OIL.

The news that the British Government I has decided to expend at least £2.000.- ! 000 in securing control of an oil-field on j tiie Persian frontier has naturally turned public 'attention toward that remote and obscure corner of the earth. Wcneed not enter into tlie controversy raised by the Opposition newspapers at Home as to whether England can get possession of these welis without colliding with Russian, German, Persian or : Turkish interests. Our point just vow : is that the Admiralty is evidently so much in earnest about oi! that it asks leave to spend a huge sum in securing iwbat appears to be a permanent source of supply, that our Foreign Minister j supports the proposal, and that Parlni|inent will, in all probability, accede to the request. Altogether is is an interesting incident, and it suggests a great deal as to the rapid development | of tlie oil industry, and its important •jenr'ng on the. commercial and naval inter.. ot the Empire. The v., field in wnich the Admiralty is now inten- .<\i lies far behind Ispahan, along t-lu- J -Highway of the. Kings.'' which once connected Persepoiis and Susa. two of the greatest cities ol" the ancient- world. 'It it» a curTous fact i that the oil wan discovered- after a long j search by an Australian 'financier, Mr. i l>VArcy. who expended nearly a quarter ! crt a million of money .in sinking wells j and -exploring the oil-bearing area hetforc I he ihad proved it. The field l« about 130 ! m-iWs from the Persian tliilf, as the orow flies, .but the. pipe line by which the oil has to be conveyed to the sea is not far short, of -ibo mileis in length. Now that the future of the. field is assured, capital has poured in, amd very extensive boring operations are being conducted, ft is • noteworthy that the oil in this district is found n.t a coneideraWc dtopth; for •while the average depth of a Canadian or American well is a'botit 500 j f.ed, and ...hut. of a Burmese spring about ! 700 tent, the wells on the llVrsklu frontier have, reached from 1,200 to 1,600 feet ibe low the surface. iP.ut there seems •to be ni doliiht about cither the quantity or the quality of tihe oil. and we may fairly assumo that t.he Admiralty looked carefully into all -tlie condition's- ' 01 the venture -before deciding i,i 'purchase Hi<Be very expensive rights. The only pi-rious drawback is the Umi'peraturc. which in buuiuht -ranges from 11-» -to I2S degrees KaliTenheit in the shade" But even this is not an insuperable difficulty, when it is a question of exploiting natur.il resources of such enormous prcsen! and prospective value ' The eonsiderution of tho*c important ' facts may justify at lean a |~.(,,,- r „. fercn,-.. to Yew Zealand - - own intent m the fmiir.- of ihe oil industry. Thr.,, i- no doubt that mineral oil' 0 f "vr.d quality exists in at least one fairly" ex- , teasivo field in jthi, connfcy, one '

t question still to be answered conelui sively is whether there is a larg-e supply J that would not be rapidly exhausted if ' systematically worked for industrial or I naval purposes. Tiie answer can be ! given only after a very considerable amount "of capital is expended in i thoroughly proving the field; and it is ; obviously difficult to induce British capital to migrate so far even lor a very tempting prospect. Howover, the experience of Mr. D'Arey, who actually lost £250,000 in the Persian oilfields before he made his venture a proved commercial success should i encourage the hope that more attention will be p-aid by capitalist's to the developjinent of New Zealand's oil-field There is Ino doubt about the quality of our product: and in situation and facilities for ! handling the output, the Taranaki wells I are admirably adapted for ee.onomiea.l management. " It is true that the cvii donee of geologists and oil experts as to ithe probability of finding a large supply [of oil in these formations is rather conflicting and indecisive. But the quantity 'of oil already obtained, its high quality. | and the rate'of its flow, are quite enough Ito justify the hope, if not the expectation, that, failing the importation of 'private capital, tJ* Admiralty may be ! induced to consider the possible value of 'such -a source of supply as Taranaki may quite possibly possess. The naval control of the Pacific must 'be one of England's chief cares in the future; and. as our warships are being, now adapted for oil-fuel, it would manifestly be a great advantage to secure a stock of this indispensable fuel on this side of the world. Is not this a matter which our own Defence. Department might well look into with a view to communicating the result of its inquiries to the Admiralty later on?