TERRIFIC BLOW-OUT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 2 March 1929, Page 4

TERRIFIC BLOW-OUT.

BLENHEIM BORE.

NEW RESERVOIR. MAY HAVE. BEEN OPENED UP BY BLAST.

(.By Pitta Association, i NEW PLYMOUTH, March 1. A terriffio blow-out occurred at the Blenheim oil bore this afternoon, oily mud being forced to a great height by a strong pressure of gas. ’The derrick was flooded with oil and mud, and the locality to the leeward was drenched for several chains. Residents in the district and large numbers of* visitors to H.M.S. Dunedin at the wharf were startled .by the roar of gas that- accompanied l the blow-out, and mud, small stones and diebris falling on the roofs of houses several chains away gave the impression that a heaw downpour of rain had commenced. For about an hour and a half the company says, oil has been flowing from the no re while the bailing plunger was being worked, _ the oil sometimes spurting to a height of 20 feet. The blow-out had been anticipated for several days. Heralded 1 by an ominous .roar, the pungent '.smelling liquid gushed up inside the derrick, forcing .its way out through every opening and Heaping to a. considierabie height above the derrick. The breeze carried (the greasy outflow across several sections. The seven inch casing, 2047 feet of it. weighing about 16 tons, was lifted about 16 feet from the bore, and the pipe connecting the bore with the oil reservoirs was blown away at the coupling. Gradually the blow-out exhausted its violence and subsided to quietness. Officials of the company state that the bore wa.s then filled 1 with greasy mud. The casing sllowly sank back into place. The bottom of the seven inch casing is at the level of 2047 feet, where the company 'states there i 9 a large quantity of debris, loosened by a I previous blast. That blast, they consider, opened up additional reservoirs of oil and gas.