COOKING WITH GAS

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31090, 20 June 1966, Page 17

COOKING WITH GAS

(By Our Commercial Staff) Almost casually on Thursday it was announced that huge reserves of saleable natural gas had been found 500 miles north of Adelaide in South Australia. Gas and oil finds in Australia are now so frequent that commercial journalists can scarcely type fast enough to keep everyone informed of the news. This latest announcement says 1.4 trillion—that is a million, million, million—cubic feet of gas has been established in reserves of 2.3 trillion. Large Figures Thinking of 1.4 trillion cubic feet makes the mind—to use a cliche—boggle. And all of this gas is saleable. In figures 1.4 trillion looks like this: 1.400,000,000,000,000,000. Gas producing organisations are used to talking in millions of cubic feet—last year Christchurch used 1000 m cubic feet—but, the potential of this latest find is staggering. Christchurch Gas Company’s biggest gasholder at its plant on Moorhouse avenue holds 2.5 m cubic feet of gas, less than half a day’s supply, and a domestic cooking range uses roughly 75 cubic feet a day. South Australia’s newest gas find would keep Christchurch supplied, even allowing for a steady rise in population and consumption, for about 25m centuries.

More Important Gas, apart from finds in million of millions cubic feet, is becoming more important these days than it has been for a long time. Changing consumer patterns in Christchurch were traced last week by the chairman of the Christchurch Gas Company (Mr A. M. Satterthwaite) at the company’s annual meeting. Sales of cooking, water heating and space heating equipment had been better than for some years, he told shareholders. In recent years there had been a progressive increase in the use of gas for industrial and commercial purposes.

Burke* Caterers.—Directors of Burkes Caterers, Christchurch, recommend final dividend of 5 per cent, making a steady 9 per cent for the year: payable July 25, ex dividend July 21.—(P.A.)