BIG BLOW-OUT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 64, 2 March 1929, Page 5

BIG BLOW-OUT

BLENHEIM OIL WELL GREAT EXCITEMENT New Plymouth, Mar. 1. A terrific “blow-out” occurred at the Blenheim oil-bore this afternoon, 'only mud being forced to a great height by the strong pressure of gas. The derrick was flooded with oil and mud and the locality to leeward was drenched for several chains. Residents in the district and large num. bers of visitors to H.M.S. Dunedin at the wharves were startled by the roar of gas that accompanied the blow-out and mud, small stones and debris, falling on the roofs of houses several chains away, gave the impression that a heavy downpour of rain had commenced. For about an hour and a half, the company says, oil had been flowing from the bore, while the bailing plunger was being worked, oil sometimes squrting to a height of 20ft. The blow-out had been anticipated for several days for a period of considerable excitement reigned in the locality. Heralded by an ominious roar the pungent-smelling liquid gushed up inside the derrick, forcing its way out through every opening and leaping to a considerable height above the deririck. The breeze carried the greasy outflow across several sections, the seven-inch easing (2047 feet of it weighing about 16 tons) was lifted about sixteen feet from the bore and the pipe connecting the bore with the oil reservoirs was blow away at a coupling. Gradually the blow-out exhausted its violence and subsided to quietness, officials of the company stating that the bore was then filled with greasy mud, and the easing slowly sank back into its place. . Tile bottom of the seven inch casing is at a level of 2047 feet, where the company states there is a large quantity of debris loosened by the previous blast. That blast they consider opened up additional reservoirs of oil and gas.