OIL UNDER WATER

Wanganui Chronicle, 28 May 1948, Page 4

OIL UNDER WATER

successful sinking of an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico some, eight miles distant from land is an achievement of considerable importance to the oil world and also to New Zealand. The existence of oil under water has long been known; the problem of drilling for it, however, was the barrier between knowing of it and securing it. If the technique of boring for oil under the sea’s bed is carried out successfully in the Mexican Gulf the practice is likely to be extended, resulting in an enlargement of the areas from which oil may be extracted. How this will affect the oil situation of the future remains to be seen, but the assumption is that the supply sources will be very considerably enlarged. The origin of oil is not yet satisfactorily explained- the strongest hypothesis is that it is the result of large quantities of fish and other oil producing life forms being captured in a (riven area, subjected to pressure over the years between rock formations that are impervious to the passing of oil. These pockets of oil have been captured at various points or places in the earth’s crust and it requires the hand of man to tap them at the most convenient place to ensure the maximum of extraction. The association of . oil and water is fairly continuous and before oil is struck it is almost general for a waterbed to be pierced. It is possible that the action of water is required to make the appropriate scaling coverage for the oil deposit. It is the nature of oil to. migrate upwards and this it continues to do until it is imprisoned in its upward movement by a sealing or cover of impervious rocks. This being the most likely explanation of how oil deposits are formed it is a fairly good guess that the surface of the earth that is now covered by the oceans is rich in oil deposits. The oil beds of Taranaki are believed to extend to the submarine lands in the Taranaki Bight. The guess is that if the technicians could drill the sea bed some twenty miles west of New Plymouth favourable results might be obtained. This would be a very expensive operation made the more difficult by reason of it being the weather shore of New Zealand with all the forces of the Tasman Sea to contend against. Submarine oil extraction will probably have to move to a very advanced stage before the experiment can be made in the Tasman Sea area. However there is room tor hope that in the future the problem will be solved to New Zealand s advantage.