BLENHEIM OIL BORE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3912, 5 March 1929, Page 70

BLENHEIM OIL BORE.

NEW PLYMOUTH, March 1

A terrific “ blow-out ” occurred at the Blenheim oil bore this afternoon, onlymud being forced to a great height by a 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 large numbers of visitors to H.M.S. Dunedin at the wharves were startled by the gas that accompanied the “ blow-out,” and mud, small stones, and debris fell on the roofs of houses several chains away, giving the impression that a heavy downpour of rain had commenced.

For about an hour and a-half, the company- says, oil had been flowing from the bore, while the bailing plunger was being worked, oil sometimes spurting to heights of 200 feet. The “ blow-out ” had been anticipated for several days. For a period considerable excitement reigned in the locality. Heralded by an ominous roar, a pungent-smelling liquid gushed up inside the derrick, forcing its way out through every opening and leaping to a considerable height above 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 16 feet from the bore, and the pipe connecting bore with the oil reservoirs was blown away at the couplings. Gradually the “blow-out" exhausted its violence and subsided to quietness. The officials of the company- state that the bore was then filled with a greasy niud. The casing slowly- sunk back into its place. The bottom of the seveninch casing is at the level of 2047 feet, where, the company- states, there is a laige quantity of debris loosened by- a previous blast. That blast, they consider, opened up an additional reservoir of oil and gas.