FUTURE OIL SUPPLIES

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3714, 12 October 1926, Page 7

FUTURE OIL SUPPLIES

OUTLOOK FOR AUSTRALIA While Australia remains without an independent national supply of oil within her own territory she suffers a grave weakness, said Lieutenant-general Sir Harry Charnel, Inspector-enera 1 of the Australian Military Forces, speaking in Sydney recently. At the same time, ho said that active measures were being taken to stimulate the search for oil, and ho sounded a hopeful note as to the prospects. "It is a matter of serious concern, - ’ Gcnral Chauvel said. ” when wo contemplate the dependence of this country on outside oil supplies. The present stage of our industrial civilisation can rightly be termed the oil era, and the nation which is deficient in adequate oil resources, and which cannot be assured of supplies in all contingencies of peace and war, is bound to be severely handicapped in the acute economic competition looming ahead and to have her national existence threatened. “The foreign policies of industrial nations are to-day synonymous with procuring potential oil-bcariiig fields to ..yfeguard the future. In agriculture, commerce, manufacture, transport, and, in fact, in every branch of our economic life, oil is playing an overincreasing part, and, with the marvellous growth of cur secondary industries, it is of paramount importance that Australia should lose no opportunity of attempting to locate within her own territories oil of commercial quanti lies. “ During last year mineral oils amounting U> approximately 166,000,000 gallons, at a cost of about £8,000,000, were imported into this country, and these figures are bound to increase every year. The shutting off of these supplies in time of war, or through legislation by other nations for the conscr vat ion of their own resources by prohibiting exports, would be nothing short of catastrophic to a country situated ns is Australia.

“The Federal Government is fully seized of the seriousness of the position, and active measures are being taken to encourage all efforts to locate oil within Commonwealth territory. The subsidy for oil exploitation has recently been increased to £IOO,OOO, experts have been engaged to report on prospective fields, and Ihe Government is pursuing investigations in Papua. Companies are now operating in all Stales of the Commonwealth, but, unfortunately, up to the present, oil has not been found in commercial quantities. “From evidence tendered by leading oil petrologists, the mandated territory of New Guinea and Papua appear to offer favorable prospects, and the companies operating there have, it is understood, discovered very encouraging features, It is earnestly Pi bo hoped that success will attend the efforts being made in this search for oil in Australia mid in her adjoining territories, and it behoves every righr-vfunking Australian to give full encouragement to all those enterpriMW.”