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New Plymouth Petroleum Company, Ltd. — continued. 651 ft. - 681 ft. .. Heaving sand, which rises 75 ft. to 90 ft. 681 ft. - 700 ft. .. Soft caving shale. 700 ft. - 815 ft. .. Sticky blue mudstone, showing gas and oil. 815 ft. - 862 ft. . . Fine heaving sand, showing gas and trace of oil. 862 ft. - 944 ft. . . Hard sandstone, showing oil. 944 ft. - 1,000 ft. . . Boulders and fine sand. 1,000 ft. - 1,060 ft. .. Shale and sandstone, showing indications of oil. Quality of the Oil and Gas. So far as known, the gas from the various jets around New Plymouth has not yet been analysed. It is apparently methane (CH,), but on this point analyses will have to be made before certainty can be reached. In 1906 a sample, said to have been obtained from the No. 1 borehole of the Taranaki Petroleum Company, was forwarded to the writer by the late Mr. George Fair. This sample contained— Per Cent. Petroleum spirit below 150° C. .. .. .. .. .. 15-0 Water .. .. .. .. .. .'. .. ..14 Kerosene distilling between 150° and 300° C. . . .. .. 42-0 Lubricating-oil .. . . .. . . .. .. .. 20-3 Paraffin .. .. .. 13-3 Coke .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..5-0 Loss .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3-0 100-0 About the same time analyses were made by Professor Thomas H. Eastorfield of oil from the same well. The results of his tests, and remarks thereon, are given below : — Por Cent. Benzine distilling between 55° and 150° C. . . . . . . ..20 Burning-oil distilling between 150° and 300° C. . . . . . . 40 Heavy oil for lubricating, 300° and 440° C. .. .. .. 37 Pitch' 2 Loss .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 Total .. .. .. .. .. .. 100 " Benzine. —The crude benzine has a specific gravity of '764, was colourless, and had a pleasant odour. When redistilled it yielded 66 per cent, of naphtha boiling between 58° and 120° C." "' Burning-oil. —The crude burning-oil had a slightly yellow colour. When redistilled it yielded water-white kerosene with only a faint bloom. The oil distilling between 150° and 270° had a specific gravity of '82. Treatment of this fraction with sulphuric acid and alkali scarcely affected the density of the oil, but removed practically the whole of the bloom.. The lead-oxide test indicated the absence of sulphur-compounds. The kerosene is of greater density than ' White Eose Oil,' and shows a greater tendency to smoke when burnt in American lamps. This defect is also shown by Russian kerosenes, but is largely overcome by the practical manufacturer." " Heavy Oil and Paraffin. —The heavy oil sets at the ordinary temperature owing to the deposition of solid paraffin. The maximum amount of paraffin scale which I obtained was equal to 13 per cent, of the crude petroleum. After pressing and remelting, the scale showed a melting-point of 130° Fahr. The yield of paraffin-wax in a properly arranged distillery, fitted for cold filtration, would be greater than in a laboratory experiment. The melting-point of wax would also be raised by systematic sweating as carried out by the modern manufacturer." " Lubricating-oil. —The heavy oil filtered from the wax yielded by the usual acid and alkali treatment a reddish-brown oil of good appearance. The oi! is a good lubricant :it was tested upon the crank-shaft bearings and in the high-pressure cylinder of a stationary engine, and gave complete satisfaction." The oil of boreholes Nos. 1, 2, and 3 may be described as a heavy oil, setting at ordinary temperatures to the consistency of vaseline (or even harder—depending on the temperature) owing to the largo amount of contained paraffin. It is brownish in colour, with an occasional faint-green iridescence. The oil obtained in the well of the Standard Oil Company of New Zealand has, so far as known, not yet been analysed. It is apparently not so heavy an oil as that at Moturoa, and is lighter in colour. CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE FUTURE OF THE TARANAKI OILFIELD. Up to the present, success can hardly be said to have been attained in the Taranaki Oilfield, and the question arises, what are the chances for the future ? So many attempts have been made to obtain a payable well at Moturoa that one would naturally feel discouraged for the future were it not that in the writer's opinion a fairly definite reason can be given for the failures. Away from Moturoa drilling can scarcely be said to have yet been prosecuted sufficiently to properly test the field. There can be no doubt that there -are abundant surface indications. Petroleum-seepages have been actually seen by the writer only at Moturoa, though they have been reported from th Waitara River and elsewhere. Natural gas, as mentioned in a preceding paragraph, is widespread. Wherever this occurs in quantity there is a strong probability that it has ascended vertically from porous strata