The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1911. TARANAKI OILFIELDS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 80, 24 May 1911, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1911. TARANAKI OILFIELDS.

Want of capital has hitherto impeded tlio work of successfully exploiting the oillicldsi of Taranaki, although operations in' the neighbourhood of Motur<m recently have sufficed to prove that vast deposits of crude oil exist at considerable depths from the sur-face-deposits of great value commercially, the by-products alone being of such a high quality as to make thorn almost of equal worth to the refined article. For some time past the Taranaki Petroleum Company has been in communication with an English syndicate, which was desirous of acquiring the works of the company, but until within the last few days no delihite decision had been arrived at. The visit of Mr. J. 1). Henry to New Flymouth has no doubt had the cflect of bringing the matter to a head, for on his return to the Old Country he was in a position to state from personal inspection that the prospects of .securing oil in payable quantities at Moturoa—if nowhere else in the province—was already assured, and all that was required to place the question beyond doubt was sufficient capital to further exploit, and for the erection of refinery works to turn to profitable account the present yield. This resulted in a definite offer being cabled to the company, which has been accepted, and in the course of a very few months Moturoa should ho a scene of great activity in the direction of further preparations for making the oil industry not only a benefit to those individually connected with it, hut also to the province as a whole. It has been said that if an English, or any other, syndicate acquired the works, outsiders would reap all the profit; hut we think, when the'mater is viewed from all standpoints, it niust ho admitted that the money expended in carrying on the work wili more than compensate for the profits received by the syndicate, in any case, it is much better that the large quantifies of valuable oil that are proved to exist at Moturoa should be converted into a marketable article rather than ho allowed to lie dormant or go to waste ;

and if tiie neople of Taranaki are unable to successfully conduct operations to that end for want of funds, then the next best thing is to allow people from the Motherland to do it for them. We understand that in the negotiations in connection with the sale of the Taranaki Company’s works, the interests of the shareholders have been thoroughly safeguarded, so that those who have stood by the ship through fair weather and fold, will he amply compensated for their allegiance. We congratulate the company and shareholders on the turn allairs have taken, and trust that by the end of the year some tangible proof of the earnestness of tlie new proprietary will be observable at Moturoa.