First Oil From

Dutch New Guinea More Suitable for Lubricants Than Petrol

IN February the first crude oil from the Sorong field, Dutch New Guinea, reached the Vacuum Oil Co.’s re finery at Altona, Melbourne. Three hundred Australian businessmen later watched the first gallons of lubricating oil distilled from the crude.

The Altona refinery is expected to save Australia about a million dollars a year and provide about half the industrial lubricating oils used in Australia. The refinery would also provide some of Aus tralia’s petrol requirements but not just yet from the crude from the new New Guinea field.

The Sorong field oil, said the manag ing director of Vacuum Oil Company (Mr.

Harold Rabling), was of unusual com position. It contained only a minor pro portion of the light fractions that made petrol and kerosene and a large propor tion of the fractions from which bitu men and lubricating oil could be made.

He said that operations began in the field in 1939 but that during the war 90 per cent, of its equipment was lost. Op erations were resumed in 1946, and the first tanker shipment of crude oil was made in December, 1948, 13 years after the* concession was originally granted.

Production has now increased to 500 tons a day.

About 60 million dollars have so far been spent on Dutch New Guinea leases.

In Papua about £7 million has already been invested without finding oil but prospects are said to be “as good as when the venture first started.”

It is known that the Commonwealth Government is anxious to extend re fineries in Australia as this is a big fac tor governing petrol supplies.