OIL IN QUEENSLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 13

OIL IN QUEENSLAND.

INDICATIONS AT ROMA. TEST YIELDS PURE PRODUCT. HIGH HOPES ENTERTAINED. Considerable excitement was caused in Queensland recently by the recovery cf 45 gallons of pure crude oil from the Roma Blocks Oil Company's well, eight miles from tho town of Roma. The oil was free of water and foreign substances and was of a light brownish colour. A quantity of it, just as it came from the well, was used for fuel in a small oil engine, which ran smoothly for two and a-half hours. The Queensland Government has made arrangements for geologists to visit the well and report on the discovery. The oil was recovered during bailing operations at the well on October 27. according to Brisbane newspapers. Officials were conducting what is officially known as a water shut-off test. Cementing operations had been carried out some time previously and on October 24 the cement plug was drilled out to the bottom of the hole and the fluid in tho well lowered to the 2000 ft. mark.

On the morning of October 27 the bailer was run in the presence of an officer of the Queensland Mines Department and it was found that tho level of the fluid in the well had risen by 100 ft. The bailer had just touched the top of the fluid, but when it was withdrawn it was found to contain pure crude oil. The bailer was again inserted and was brought up full of oil. Bailing then ceased, as it was deemed advisable that a gate valve should be connected to the well for safety.

It was stated that no water was entering the well while the test was being carried out and officials construed the rise of 100 ft. in the level of the fluid in the well ns proof that that quantity of oil was present. The oil had made its way to the surface through 1400 ft. of heavy mud fluid, equivalent to 6201b. hydrostatic pressure. As this pressure would hinder the oil from entering the hole freely, it was considered that prospects were excellent. The site of operations, according to the Brisbane Courier, was selected Mr. 11. W. G. Kidd, who carried out a geological survey in 1928, and the well was " spudded in "on March 28, 1929. A long delay in the completion of the well was caused by a serious shortage of water.

Tho sand from which the oil was recovered was entered at approximately 3440 ft. Previously 25ft. of hard rock had been encountered and then the drill passed through 6ft. of soft sand. The core barrel was run and about 18in. of extremely loose porous oil sand was recovered, saturated with oil of a high

gravity. Commenting on the discovery, Mr. E. A. Atherton, Minister of Mines, in the Queensland Government, said that a core of sandstone, from 3445 ft. to 3447 ft., raised last June, had been submitted to the deputy-chief geologist. It was faintly odorous of petroleum, gave a definite colouration to ether and was promising to that extent. While welcoming the present discovery, he deprecated undue optimism as to its commercial significance.