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On December 14, 1913, this message appeared in New Zealand newspapers: 'London, December 11.The directors of the Oil Trust which was created in 1910, and which is largely interested in the Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd, have advised the shareholders that at least half the subscribed capital has been lost, this being chiefly due to disastrous loan transactions.' Apparently little concern was felt about this terse statement, although the Taranaki Herald commented: 'The above probably refers to the British Empire Trust, of which Mr Hal Brown was chairman. This concern agreed in the first instance to underwrite a portion of the capital of Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd and eventually floated the company, receiving for its services a certain sum of money in cash and a number of shares. To this extent only is it interested in Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd.' The message did, indeed, refer to Mr Hal Brown-the same Mr Brown who, in December, 1911, had expressed such great hope for the future of New Zealand's oil industry.
The magnitude of the' oil crisis' became known within the next few days, and the New Zealand directors of the company called a special 'informal' meeting of shareholders on January 14, 1914. It was a secret meeting and apart from the mention of a report from Sir George Clifford, nothing was reported.
In London some 'remarkable statements' were being made at meetings of the British Oil Trust. Sir John Harrington, chairman, explained how a subsidiary of this company, British Empire Oilwells Ltd, had carried out a flotation of Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd. He said it was a misfortune that he had become associated with the concern but when he joined the company he believed that statements made to him were true. 'No shares of British Empire Oilfields have up to this date been issued', he said, 'and no shares have ever been issued to the public.' He said $20,000 worth of shares were issued fully paid up to Brown who was then managing director of the Oil Trust. 'These are the only shares issued', he added, 'with the exception of a small number held by the directors of British Empire Oilfields and paid for.'
No record of any inquiry into the transactions of the concern is available, doubtless due to the fact that other and sterner issues were confronting the British Empire in the shape of looming war clouds. However, the directors of Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd in New Zealand made frantic appeals for new capital. At least $20,000 was required, of which $12,000 had been subscribed by March 28, 1914. Shareholders' meetings were held in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. J. H. Quilliam, of New Plymouth, legal advisor to the company, went to London where he had discussion with Lord Ranfurly and J. D. Henry, but insufficient money was forthcoming.
One of the reasons for the reluctance of the British to finance the New Zealand company was the worldwide development of the oil industry. During 1914 the British Government went into the oil business itself in a big way when it gave the Admiralty authority to invest $4.4 million in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, a holding which gave it a controlling interest. In a lengthy debate in the House of Commons Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, said the navy needed a good supply of oil and the Admiralty had up to then been' squeezed' by big oil interests and was therefore forced to take its own steps. He said: 'All criticisms have come from Sir Marcus Samuels, one of the heads of the Shell Company, and his spokesman. We have no quarrels with the Shell Company. We have found them most courteous, considerate and ready to oblige, anxious to serve the Admiralty and protect the interests of the British Navy and Empire-at a price.'
A. L. Horner, MP, a director of Taranaki Oil Wells in London, put the New Zealand case before the House in strong terms. 'In every part of the British Empire there are undeveloped sources which would only require a little direct encouragement and assistance from the Government to make them unfailing ... ' he said 'In New Zealand there are important oil resources which have been known to exist for half a century ... as an example of the force of sentiment alone I need only remind the House of what New Zealand did for us in the South African war, and in since augmenting the Navy ... I think it is a great pity that in a business matter like this there is no way in which the colonies can make their voices heard directly in this House.'
This apparently was a correct assessment of the situation for the House of Commons approved the Anglo-Persian deal by 254 votes to 18. The British Navy was in the oil business. With Britain on the verge of war it was essential to get oil to her ships as quickly and as cheaply as possible, and while New Zealand investors did not fully realise this, flows from their wells indicated there was just not enough oil for the British Government to become interested at such a time.
One by one the non-producing companies abandoned their holdings and by November Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd announced there was insufficient money left to pay the staff wages. The refinery closed down in December, 1914, and a skeleton staff was employed to maintain the machinery.
Work continued at a diminishing rate on the company's bores, and as a stopgap measure the Government advanced money to enable the more productive wells to continue. A small locally made benzine extraction plant was installed near No.5 well, which produced about 1400 gallons of benzine a month. This was sold to local garages and other firms during the early war years.
The people of New Plymouth were feeling the effects of the war economy and some of the surplus crude was put to good use.
Householders bought bucketfuls for a few pence, and this was used to saturate coal or wood for open fires and in cooking stoves. It was efficient, to a point, but very smelly and messy.

Now was the time for the shareholders to grumble. They complained that no statement of the company's affairs had been published since 1912. This sparked off a great spate of correspondence to the editors all over the country, but there was no official reply. In 1911 George Loveridge, of New Plymouth, later to become an All Black, worked as a post office boy. He recalled shortly before his death in 1970 that he was attracted by the bright prospectuses and saved up enough money to invest $10 in Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd. He heard nothing more until some years later when he received a letter while in the mud at Passchendaele. The German Army was a few hundred yards away. George's letter was a share certificate informing him that the company had been wound up, and enclosing his final and only return for his investment. The cheque was for one shilling and threepence (13 cents). George, whose mind was on other things, tore the letter and the cheque up and watched it sink into the mud.
But the oil refinery was still in New Plymouth. During the war the world consumption of oil increased beyond the expectations even of Winston Churchill. British interests in the Middle East were stepped up and the Anglo-Iranian Company urgently needed more refining equipment, which could not be manufactured while the factories were engaged on munitions work. In 1916 60 million gallons of crude was refined in Persia in one month, and more was needed. The British Government sent J. T. Greenway, a representative of the Middle East Oil interests, to New Zealand, and after lengthy negotiations with the New Zealand Government and Taranaki Oil Wells Ltd, the New Plymouth refinery was sold for an undisclosed sum, the Anglo-Iranian company to ship it when and if a vessel became available. The deed of purchase was signed on January 5, 1919, and the plant was dismantled, cased and shipped from New Plymouth late in 1920. Two of the smaller companies which operated during the 'refinery era' were the Bonithon Freehold Company, founded in 1906, which was reformed the same year under the title, the Bonithon Freehold and Extended Company Ltd; and the Taranaki Oil Lands Acquisition and Development Company, formed in January, 1913. The Bonithon concern's rights extended over 3 ha south of the Mangaotuku Stream, and by 1909 it had sunk a well on the northern side of the present Devon Intermediate School's grounds. 'Good indications' of oil and gas were found. Also tapped was a strong spring of mineral water, which among other things, caused the company to run out offunds in efforts to combat it. Operations were suspended in December, 1908, after all debts had been settled. But the last had not been heard of the Bonithon concern. In 1912 the Extension Company was formed and another hole was sunk. This too failed and drilling operations ceased late in 1913.
The name Bonithon was not forgotten. The warm mineral water found by Bonithon No.1 ran to waste over the years until just before World War II C. R. Cook, of New Plymouth, built a 16m by 8m baths near the site of the well and used the water for a public swimming pool as well as
everal private baths, all enclosed in the same building. These were popular with the public until the mid-1960s when they were closed, but they continued to be used for swimmers to train in half a century after the mineral water had been discovered.
The Taranaki Oil Lands Acquisition and Development Company, formed in 1913 by a group of Marlborough businessmen and farmers, headed by E. W. Griffiths, of New Plymouth, was one of the smaller companies, but it was one of the most important. It drilled the Blenheim well on the eastern corner of Bayly and Breakwater Roads. Within a year the money ran out and a new company, Blenheim Oil Wells Reclamation Company, took over the work, subsidised by the Government. At 1900 metres a blowout occurred, blowing the drill out of the casing, and forcing crude oil to the surface, covering an area round the site to a depth of 40cm. It was three days before the flow could be controlled. The Daily News described the scene: 'Around the derrick itself the ground was slippery with mud and oil which oozed out in all directions. But inside the derrick! Dante's inferno without the flames; a subterranean Bacchanalian riot in open revolt; a screaming challenge by the gods who guard the oilstreams against the unseemly hand of man meddling with forces which, once invoked, he cannot control. ... Man, with his feeble scratchings, he ventured into old niggard Nature's close-guarded secrets. She has revolted and for once man can only stand in fatuous wonder at the forces he has let loose .... ' However, old niggard Nature soon got tired of these fun and games and it became possible to harness the still oozing oil and divert it into large storage tanks nearby.
This was the start of 17 years of production, during which time several more companies invested-and lost-much money in other wells in the area. By 1928 there were more than 60,000 barrels of crude stored in the tanks, but with no refinery, it was difficult to get rid of. This was at a time when New Zealand was importing all its oil needs at almost prohibitive prices. Henry Vosseler, of the Union Foundry, Stratford, S. Huston, chairman of the Blenheim company, and William Fossey, a retired builder, decided to do something about it. They formed New Zealand Oil Refineries, with shoestring capital of$5500. Vosseler bought a 40-horsepower steam boiler which had seen 20 years' service at the Waitara freezing works. This formed the nucleus of the plant. All the holding tanks and the piping were made in the foundry at Stratford. The refinery was erected on high ground overlooking Port Taranaki and in December, 1928, the first oil was put through it. Vosseler demonstrated the results of the first distillation when he drove round the town in his Dodge car which was powered by a tankful of the new 'New Zealand Petrol'. Motor experts of the day declared it 'high-class petrol' equal to any that had been imported up to that time. The first batch was refined at the rate of 1100 gallons of crude a day.