DOMINION OIL.

Grey River Argus, 23 June 1927, Page 6

DOMINION OIL.

SEVERAL EXPERIMENTS. WELLINGTON, June 9. “If we had a few more petroleum wells throughout •’:<• country and could develop them on anything like' a big scale, they would be worth more than all our coal resources put together.” This assertion w; < made by an official in the Mines Dej i t inent, when speaking of petroleum reduction in the Dominion at the ] sent time, and announcing increas- I activities in drilling in Taranaki nd Poverty Bay. It is generally recognised, however; that although e> ’• nsion of the petro-< leum-producing c rts is extremely sirable, huge sui > would be required J| to exploit the p< ntial oilfields which were known to < xist in certain parts of .New Zealand. The geological survey, in a general reference to New Zealand’s very large areas of possib oil-bearing rocks, gives the warning that only persons willing to empl y highly-trained and experienced get gists and drillers, should attempt to prospect for oil. This difficulty o respecting is chiefly on account of • -e thick deposits of volcanic rock tl i overlie the petroliferous strata f r many miles around some of the wel and entirely conceal the structure. With the rep -rted successful operation of the Ok< e well at New Plymouth, a comp. : y has commenced to sink a well ne Gisborne, known as the Tokomaru . and is now assembling plant ’’*r boring. Another well is being sm.k at Morere Springs, and a separate ■ ompany has been operating on a dis very in Murchison, in the West Coas district. In addition to these, one w I which was put down • luring the war. .ih<l which was taken over by the Go ament, has been subleased to a 10. •; group in New Plymouth. ami effort are now being made for recondition! so in the course of a few weeks d wells will be working in an endea ur to test the efficacy uf petroleum re v. ry in the Dominion. Sincere hope re entertained by the Mines Departm ’ that the experiments will be success -