THE OIL INDUSTRY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 17 May 1912, Page 5

THE OIL INDUSTRY.

FINDS AT PAHIATUA

£V TELBiiRAPH—I>ttESB ARHOCIATIOK

PAHIATUA, May 16

Like Taranaki and round about Gisborne, the Forty-mile Bush district promises to support a flourishing oil industry, at no distant date, in the Mangaoiie Valley, lying between Pahiatua and Eketahuna, 'and even further afield. Ample evidence of the presence of oilbearing springs has been discovered. Reports on the. field have been made by""Mr S. Fry and Mr J. H. Herman, late drilling "expert for the Standard Oil Company, and various other companies. An analysis of the mineral water is favorably reported on by Dr. J. H. MacLaurin, Dominion analyst. Mr Herman has visited all the well-known oil areas in New Zealand, and says that lie has seen nothing in prospect that he considers superior to the territory under review. He recommends a thorough trial by deep boring, and feels sure that the reward of prospecting the area will exceed the most sanguine expectations of the prospectors. Boring, it is stated, will not be expensive, as there is abundance of fuel in the shape of fallen bush, well-distributed over nearly the whole area. Mr Herman examined the indications on the properties of Messrs Rodney, Mathieson, Godfrey and Lowe. All these indications he states, appear along the Rongomai Valley in a north-easter-ly and south-westerly line, extending about four miles. These mainly consist of saline mineral springs giving off gas, which burns with a dull red color. This gas, says Mr Herman, is petroleum gas, and has all its characteristics, and a three-iiieh bore sunk on the property of Mr F. C. Lewis, to a depth of about 400 ft. gave off a large quantity of petroleum gas, and the boring was particularly easy for the whole depth. One of the springs on Mr Godfrey's place has belched up mud, and formed a small hillock, and can be described as a small mud volcano. There are several of these mud eruptions on the eastern extremity of the areas. The springs on Messrs Nagle's and Pitcaithley's properties, four in number, - have also been examined. These are very similar to the others above described, but are situated some miles east of them. There is also a very large spring on Mr Judd's farm, at Ihuraua, some seven miles from Rongomai Valley. This is the most powerful one in the district. It gives off large quantities of gas, and is said to give splendid samples of petrolaum gas. A company called the Mangaono Oil Fields Company, Ltd.. has been formed, with a capital of £25,000, to acquire the rights to bore for oil and mine for coal and other minerals over an area of 20,000 acres of land, situated in the Mangaone and Kopuarans;a survey districts. It is estimated that the capital of the comnany will be sufficient to sink three 3,000 ft. prospecting wells, thus ensuring a thorough testing of the area. Exr>e*rt drillers are expected to be at work shortly.