QUEST FOR OIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1924, Page 5

QUEST FOR OIL.

OPERATIONS IN TARANAKI. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FIELD. LARGE QUANTITY OF OIL WON. SERIES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS. The past history of the quest for oil in Taranaki has been one of difficulties and disappointments, but there are some whose, faith in the field lias never been diminished. These few optimists have, in spite of failures, never jettisoned the belief that rich oilfields existed in Taranaki, and that, with the employment of the most up-to-date methods, this oil could be won in payable quantities. The History of the Taranaki oii wells dates back to about 1865, when steps were taken to locate the source of certain petroleum indications which had been not'ced at Moturoa as far back as 1839, when Dr. E. Diffenback visited Taranaki and made various geological investigations. Towards the end of 1865, a prospecting lease was granted to Messrs. Carter and Co., who sank a shaft before the year had transpired. The terms of the lease allowed the company to occupy about 50 acres of the Sugar Loaf Reserve and the land was to be used for prospecting and working petroleum only. The shaft which Messrs. Carter and Co. had sunk was called the Alpha well, and was situated at the root of the present breakwater. FIRST OIL. In January, 1866, the first oil was tapped, when the shaft had been sunk to a depth of 20 feet. This oil was reported to have been of a greenish brown colour and had a genuine oily smell. The precious liquid showed itself in greater quantities as the depth increased, and at the end of tile year a derrick was ei'.-cted and boring operations were commenced. After boring to about 174 feet and meeting with varying success, negotiations were completed whereby the Alpha well was taken over by the first Taranaki Petroleum Company, which had been promoted some months earner wish a capital of £lO,OOO. In the meantime’, the People’s Petroleum Company had commenced operations, but after reaching a depth to over 500 feet and spending close on £2OOO, they merged with the Taranaki Company. Ac about this time (1867) the first geological report on the Taranaki field was made by Dr. Hector, afterwards Sir James Hector. In the report he stated that he looked for the real source of the oil in the coal seams belonging to the brown coal formation, which was supposed to constitute the base of the tertiary strata that extends under Mt. Egmont, the valley of the Wanganui and other rivers entering the sea on the coast between Mokau and Otaki. During the three years from 1865 to 18G8 small quantities of petroleum were obtained, but the results did not warrant the hope of discovering it in sufficient quantities to be of any commercial value. After spending about £4OOO and losing a number of boring tools, the Taranaki Petroleum Company came to grief, and with its failure, all oil boring operations ceased for about twenty years. FINANCIAL TROUBLE. The year 1888 saw the work taken up ; again in earnest, chiefly through the in- , strumentality of Sir Julius Vogel and the Hon. Oliver Samuel. With the I efforts of these prominent men, a company ! was organised in London, the services of 1 Mr. Booth, a Canadian driller obtained, 1 and a bore was sunk at the end of the breakwater. When down to a depth of 900 feet the driller reported that he had struck the most valuable oil he had ever seen and considered that the success of the company was assured. His recommen--1 dations were that five or six additional wells should be sunk in the vicinity of the present one, which he was of the opinion should be sunk a further 200 feet. Numerous attempts were made in the vicinity of Moturoa and also in the Omata district, but none of the ventures was crowned with , any great success, much trouble being ex- ' perienced with water. i Oil enthusiasts were then silent for a ! time and no more drilling ventures were 1 made. In 1904, however, an Adelaide company appeared on the scene, and under 1 the managership of the late Mr. G. C. I Fair acquired about 5000 acres of boring j leases. The new arrivals descended into I the bowels of the earth for about 2000 feet, when they became discouraged, and a new group, called the Moturoa Petroleum Company, took over the plant. A good flow of oil was obtained at 2356 feet, but at this stage accidents were met with which exhausted the company’s capital. THE, BOOM PERIOD.

Taranaki had its greatest oil boom in May, 1906. At the end of April, the Moturoa (Birthday) well blew out a large quantity of oil, and on May 1 a steady stream of the precious liquid was obtained. This caused tremendous excitement in New Plymouth, shareholders refusing £l5 for £5 shares, but at a later date a few shares changed hands at the phenomenal price of £52.

Shortly afterwards, the Moturoa Petroleum Company was re-organised and became the Taranaki Petroleum Company, Ltd. with a capital of £120,000. While the outlook on the oil industry was still bright, numerous other companies were floated. One commenced boring at Inglewood, but it did not meet with any success. It was then proposed that the boring equipment be shifted to Mokau, but no drilling was ever started there. Other bores were sunk on the Carrington Road, Frankley Road and at Omata. Stagnation set in during 1907-8, shares gradually fell to 5s and 6s, and in 1909 two fires at Moturoa did not improve matters, a derrick and some 5000 gallons of oil being destroyed. ENGLISH GROUP OPERATES. It was now thought that for the industry to be a success more capital would be required and after considerable negotiation, Mr. J. D. Henry, a colonial oil authority, came from England on behalf of the British group, the outcome being that he undertook to form a new company with a nominal capital of £400,000 and agreed to underwrite £150,000. It was arranged that the new company was to pay the Taranaki Petroleum Company for its rights, machinery, property, etc., £llO,OOO, of which £51,000 was to be paid in cash and £59,000 in fully paid up shares in the new concern. Mr. C. Carter, of New Plymouth, chairman of directors of the Taranaki Petroleum Company, proceeded to London to complete the transaction, and Mr. H. J. Brown, representative of the Home group, returned to New Zealand with Mr. Carter, and the company was finally floated. In addition to the Taranaki (N.Z.j Oil Wells, Ltd., there were fourteen to fifteen ujthgc operating in

whilst several others were projected, the best known being Bonithon Freehold Petroleum Company, Extended, Ltd., Phoenix, Oil Company, Taranaki Oil and Freehold Company., Ltd., Standard Oil Company of New Zealand, Ltd., and Ngamotu Oil Fields, Ltd. Petrol obtained from the crude oil had been tested in New Plymouth motor cars and was believed to be as good as the imported article, ar.d the experts who had conducted preliminary tests reported satisfactorily in regard to the products. It was therefore decided that a refinery would have to be built and “a well-equipped and up-to-date building” was erected at Moturoa at the cost of some £35,000. The opening ceremony took place on July 28, 1913, and a new era in the history of the Taranaki oil industry was predicted. A little more than a year afterwards there came the Great War, and with it a shortage in the money market. The company had many financial troubles, but was able to carry on during the most trying months of the war. It was thought that the loan advanced by certain of the shareholders in 1913 would have carried them forward to a time when money would have been more easily obtained, but on account of the war the necessary capital was not forthcoming. The imperilled position of the industry was placed before the Government, who took action and enabled the company to carry on. SALE OF PRODUCTS. In 1916 several of the bores owned by the company were giving satisfactory results, especially No. 5 A new benzine extraction plant was erected at the refinery and had given evert satisfaction, the benzine obtained being of good quality. For a period extending from January to August in the same year the monthly sale had averaged 1400 gallon.?, and the spirit, which was chiefly used in motors in New Plymouth, was reported to compare favourably with any imported product. A demand was created for the company’s crude oil as well as for the benzine, the average sale of the former for the year equalling 6980 gallons per month. At this time other eomnaniea in Taranaki ware meeting with varying success. One of the best known of these was the Taranaki Oil Lands Acquisition and Development Co., Ltd., known as the “Blenheim C 0.,” also at Moturoa. The chairman of this company was the late Mr. W. N. Ewing, with Mr. E. Gilmour as managing director. This company was the only one to sink a well 6000 feet and was in operation after many of the others had closed down. In April of the previous year (1915) it was announced that the Bonithon Petroleum Co., Ltd., had sold their complete plant to Mr. P. A. Hadley, of Auckland, who re-erected it on the Frankley Road. The plant was considered to be an exceptionally good one, the latest design of the Parker Mogul (1912), and was manufactured at Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.A., by the Southern Wells Works Company. It was capable of drilling 5000 feet, or with care 5200 feet could be penetrated. LIQUIDATION. While some companies were flourishing others were closing down, one of the latter being the Taranaki Oil and Freehold Company, Ltd., which had bought ten acres of land in the suburb of Vogeltown, just inland of the Pukekura Park. After putting down a well of large diameter through unexpectedly hard formation and striking several seams of oil, the company, being a small one, had to cease operations for want of funds in August, 1916. About three years afterwards the Taranaki (N.Z.) Oil Wells Company also went into liquidation after a period of operations extending over about seven years. Altogether about 500,000 gallons of oil was refined at the refinery, but work in this division of the company’s activities was spasmodic and in the latter stages was chiefly confined to the operating of the benzine plant. The company was then wound up and the refinery plant sold for a little less than what it cost to a company operating in Persia. So the Taranaki (N.Z.) Company faded out of the picture and the world grew grey for many a shareholder who had given his hard earned cash to float the company, only to see it come to grief as its predecessors had done. Shortly afterwards all the companies ceased active operations.