SEARCH FOR OIL

Hokitika Guardian, 16 June 1938, Page 6

SEARCH FOR OIL

ON TITE WEST COAST. IvOTUKL-MARSDEN AREA. An extensive search for oil will he conducted on the West. Coast by New Zealand.Oil.Concessions, Ltd. The company has been granted a petroleum prospecting licence by the Minister foi Mines, the HOll. P. C. Webb, and plans are.now being prepared for the search by geophseists and geologists. The licence covers an area of 19] square miles, over the Kotutu and Marsden districts, and includes the Kotuku seepages, of crude oil in New Zealand. The company has asked the •Department of Scientific and Industrial Research to assist in the ’survey, and for this purpose complete plans are now being made. Mr Norbert Modriniak, an Austrian geophysicist, wh 0 has’ had extensive European experience of oil-bearing lands 111 Europe, and who conducted a gcophysicial survey of the Kotuku area ;jast year, visited C'hristqhurcli yesterday on behalf of the department, and discussed with directors of the company the extent to which assistance and co-operation are expected from the department. Already it has been agreed that the department should help in tins survey on the West Coast, and plans are now being made to outline/the

■scope of the renewed examination of the area. The extent, of the assist., 'mice to be given will be determined: when Mr Modriniak has reported to. -tilo department iii Wellington. Both a geophysical and geological survey lias been made of the Kotuku-Marsdeu area, and now, alter the discussion yesterday,; proposals are being prepared for a further intensive campaign, with the assistance and cooperation of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Mr Modriniak yesterday showed a short film yvhicji effectively illustrates the work-of'the department in making its geophysical survey of the.area. The shots included, showed not only the work of the survey party but also tne actual seepages and bores at Kotuku, the deposits.from the seepages, and the springs of pure soda water wnich well up at high pressure from the fissure there,

A Thorough Survey. I Those who saw the film were told that tile seepage does not indicate delinitely tnai mere may be a largj body ol oil in the area, but the evidences available from the film were encouraging, and it is intended td make a very thorough survey before boring. The extent to which the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research will co-operate will he decided shortly.

The geophysical survey involves, intm likely geological structure of the country. Over specified areas, charges of guncotton or gelginite are let off, and the reactions of the undersurface structure to these charges are measured and recorded. From the recordings, some idea is gained of the likely structure of the country. Hie geophysical survey does not attempt to show' whether there is oil in the area surveyed. But a geological survey is made and the data correlated , to indicate whether the structure is likely to bear oil or not. Only intensive boring can prove the ultimate issue.

Well-known Seepages. The Kotuku seepages have been a landmark on the West Coast for very many years. They were disc-overeu in the very early days of the coast, and since then the crude oil secured from a small number of shallow bores put down has driven the coastal vessels which run up and down the coast between Hokitika and anchorages further south. Mr Modriniak’s film, of which more will be seen, shows all the activities of the geophysical survey—the underground and underwater shots being fired, the groat showers of water and soil'being thrown into the air. and the recording of the geological reactions on special instruments. Some of the shots shown are fired in the great rivers which flow through the area or in the lakes. The film is of absorbing interest and constitutes a record of one of the most important brandies of the department’s work.