The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1913. AN OIL AGE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144085, 2 May 1913, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1913. AN OIL AGE.

Perhaps it would not be strictly correct to say that there is a total lack- of appreciation of the importance of the development work that is being- carried out in connection with oil in this and other parts of New Zealand! Certainly a great deal of interest is being taken in what is going on here, especially among outsiders. Most people, however, while agreeing that it is all very interesting and that,the enterprise shown is very creditable to those who are finding the money, have' no great faith-in the venture, and certainly no adequate conception of what success means. To get an idea of this one wants to know how keen is the anxiety in naval circles— : commercial circles too for that matter—to obtain abundant supplies of oil for fuel. Oil as a fuel is as yet only in its infancy. Crude petroleum is largely used by American coastal steamers, and vessels like the New Zealand Dreadnought and the Union Steam Ship Company’s Niagara —to name two as typical of their respective classes—are designed to burn oil when they can get it. The trouble is that oil fuel is not as readily obtainable as coal yet, otherwise these and many other large vessels would burn nothing, else. But the burning of crude petroleum is only a stage in the development of oil as a fuel for naval and mercantile steamers. The Sydney Morning Herald’s London correspondent says there is no doubt that the internal combustion engine is so far advanced that it is quite possible it will be driving big ships within a few years. It is true that the largest marine oil engine so far built has a cylinder 34 inches in diameter and develops only about 1000 to 1200 horse-power per cylinder. To get the power necessary to drive the New Zealand would require about forty cylinders, so that these big vessels must be driven with steam turbines until the cylinder of the internal combustion engine is able to produce much more power than at present. But a fast motor-cruiser of fair size is quite within the range of possibility even now. She will be able dcy.-carry;- enough uyl -to,!

keep the sea for a great length of time, and range over huge distances, independent of coaling ports; and it is quite possible she will be -provided with an armament whhli will put Dreadnoughts out of -date. That is One reason why the ;Admiralty advised Canada against■laying down all the expensive iplant for building Dreadnoughts. These possibilities make it all Ihe more essential that the Empire shall have its own sources of oil supply. Great Britain has hitherto ,had an immense advantage over other Powers in possessing an abundance of coal of the highest quality. If, however, oil is going to supersede coal, as is-more than likely, the nation which possesses the best oil supplies is the one that will have an advantage over others, and perhaps rule the, seas. Those who are in authority in England realise only too well that Great Britain, which was one of the richest countries in the world in her coal supply, is one of the poorest in her oil supply. The Admiralty has laid down immense oil storage tanks at Portsmouth and elsewhere, and is laying down many more. It lias built special steamers to carry oil oversea, but all this does not overcome the fact that the Empire is weak in oilfields. To overcome this weakness is one of the Admiralty’s chief anxieties,, for at present it cannot look more than six months or a-year ahead. It is well known that the Admiralty is kept closely informed of the progress of the developments of this oilfield, which has been visited and reported upon by its agent. Not only the Admiralty, however, hut others interested in oil are keeping a very close watch upon New Zealand. The writer of the Mercantile Gazette’s London letter, under date March 20, says that the Shell Transport and Trading Company, Ltd., is reported to be about to acquire oil properties in New Zealand, and, he adds, if this should come about it will give a tremendous fillip to the industry of the Dominion. As a matter of fact, the company has already large interests in the Dominion, and it is now extending these by the purchase of the freehold of supposed oil-hearing hinds on the East Coast. This is one of the most powerful oil corporations in existence. Formed in 1897 with a capital of £l,Boo,ooo,'it has now a capital of five millions sterling, and hardly a month goes by without an announcement of further developments, either in the acquisition of new oilfields or the purchase of further tank steamers for conveyance of oil. It holds 40' per cent, of the capital of the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company and the Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij, as well as very large interests in numerous other companies. When such a company turns its attention to New Zealand there is good reason to believe that there-are prospects before onr oilfields. That it is not operating in this locality is due to the fact that before its attention was directed to the Dominion others had already acquired the boring rights over the greater part of the likely country, so it has gone where it can acquire larger areas than in this neighbourhood. All this goes to show that if, like the poet who has no honour in his own country, the possibilities before the oil industry are not generally appreciated here, there are others who foresee what the development, of a large field means.