OIL WITHIN THE EMPIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 June 1921, Page 12

OIL WITHIN THE EMPIRE.

Acting on the advice of Sir John Cadman the Anglo-Persian Oil Company has decided to try to find oil in West Australia, and lias applied to the 1 arliament of that State to pass legislation enabling leases of not less than 160,000 acres in the aggregate to be available either on Crown or private lands. There is already a partnership agreement between the company and the Federal Government under which it is proposed to establish a refinery in Victoria for the treatment of imported crude oil, pending the discovery of internal supplies of petroleum. The company proves to undertake the distribution, as well as the raising and refining of oil, a side of the business which has previously been carried out by other interests. It therefore requires new capital and a meeting was recently held to authorise the creation of £5,000,000 additional first preference shares, the conversion of the participating dividend on these shares, namely. 2 per cent., into permanent cumulative form, and also the creation of £10,000,000 second preference shares. At present the ordinary shareholders arc the Bnrmah Oil Co., the the British Government, and Lady Strathcona, and the only way in which the public lias been aide to obtain indirectlv an interest in the ordinary capital was through a purchase of the shares of the Burmah Oil Co.