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Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 84, 10 April 1937, Page 10

A lake of oil, ten to twelve miles long, and, in places, more than two miles wide, lies somewhere under the placid surface of the Sussex Downs, according to Mr. G. Percy Ashmore, a London mining engineer. "My secret when I divulge it, will leave Britain independent of foreign oil and petrol supplies for at least 200 years," lie told a "Sunday Dispatch" reporter. "In the areas I have mapped, abundant supplies of oil may be had by anyone who can bore to a depth of between 2000 and 3000 feet. My secret of the greatest deposit of all— a veritable lake of oil—will remain my secret until I can be sure that its exploitation will be in the interest of the nation. A thousand wells could be used for years in this one area. In other sources in England there is enough oil to supply all our requirements in peace or war, for hundreds of years to come."