BLENHEIM OIL BORE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 79, 2 March 1929, Page 15

BLENHEIM OIL BORE.

TERRIFIC BLOWOUT YESTERDAY. Per Press Association. NEW PLYMOUTH, March 1. A terrific blowout occurred at the Blenheim oil bore this afternoon, oily 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 largo numbers of visitors to 11.M.5. Dunedin at the wharf, were startled by the roar of the gas that accompanied the blow-out and mud, small stones and debris falling on the roofs of houses several chains away gave tire impression that a heavy downpqur of rain had commenced. For afcout ail hour and a 1 alf, the company says, oil had been flowing from the bore while the bailing plunger was being worked, the oil sometimes spurting to a height of 20 feet. The blowout had been anticipated for several days. For a period excitement reigned in the locality. Heralded by an ominous roar, pungent-smelling liquid gushed i up inside the derrick, forcing its w.ay out through every opening and leaping to a great height about the derrick. The breeze carried the greasy outflow across several sections. The seven inch casing, 2047 feet of it weighing about 16 tons, was lifted about sixteen feet from tho bore, and the pipe connecting the bore with the oil reservoirs was blown away at the coupling. Gradually the blowout exhausted its violence and subsided to quietness, officials of tlie company stating that the bore was then filled with greasy mud. The casing slowly sank back into place. The bottom ol the seven-inch casing is at .a level of 2047 feet, where, the company* states, there ls a large quantity of debris loosened by the previous blast. • That blast, it considered, opened up additional reservoirs of oil and gas.