TARANAKI OIL.

Mataura Ensign, 30 January 1912, Page 4

TARANAKI OIL.

Before long we may expect to see the Taranaki oilfields in process of active development by British capital. The two oil experts who recently came to New Zealand from England for the purpose of confirming the satisfactory reports which had previously been mao*» to Home capitalists have been greatly impressed with the possibilities of the oilfield in Taranaki. They speak very highly of the energy displayed by the local shareholders in prospecting, and thereby proving that oil exists in considerable quantities. This praise is well-deserved, for large sums of money have been spent during the past 30 years in preliminary boring. Unfortunately the money available at any one period was never sufficient to warrant the employment of the highest special engineering talent. The last company to acquire the rights of the Moturoa district obtained' the services of the most experienced oil engineer available to their means. He succeeded in obtaining oil in marketable quantities. The company then approached the Government for assistance to erect a refinery; but the Government would not comply with this request. It, however, continued the bonus which had previously been offered for the production of a specified quantity of oil. There was some fear that the wells would fall into the clutches of the Standard Oil Trust; but fortunately it has not clone so, English capitalists having agreed to finance it. The two gentlemen who are at present in the Dominion for the purpose of arranging for this, speak very highly of the quality of the oil and its by-products. MiBrown, one of the experts, says that the statement "can be. made on the authority of the most eminent refining company of Scotland that this field is, in the matter of the value of the products, the finest in the world. The percentage of paraffin-wax is 17.7, which is 10 per cent, larger than the yield of any other oil. Paraffin-wax, I may tell you, sells at the very high figure of from £3O to £4O per ton." The negotiations for the introduction of British capital are said to be complete. Under the arrangement, the London group has to bring out a company with a nominal capital of £400,000, of which £275,000 is for working capital and the general expenses of the company. Fifty thousand shares are held in reserve for i future issue. This is most satisfactory, and the amount of the capital available is expected to ensure a thorough test of the field being made. Right across the North Island there is a belt of oilbearing country, and if the Taranaki field proves as profitable as the shareholders are led to believe, other fields will no doubt be discovered in the future. It is not generally known that in the vicinity of Mataura Island, in Southland, there are indications of oil. We are not aware if any tests have ever i been made, or if experts have ever visitj ed the locality, but we are given to unL derstand that there are indications that oil exists there. With the development of the Taranaki fields a large amount of labor will be required, and the province referred to will become of greater importance than it could ever hope to do as an agricultural district solely.