During the year a further large increase in crude oil output was dealt with in the refinery at only a small increase in cost, The extensions, renewals, and improvements to the refinery itself, mentioned last year, were now completed and in commission giving very satisfactory results.
With regard to the South African Torbanite Mining and Refining Company, Limited, in which their company continued to hold a large interest, the total production of petrol was being sold without difficulty. A good working profit was now being made. The ultimate full success of this business was linked up with the policy of the Government of South Africa and whether it really desired to see an indigenous industry established in the Union. This, he believed, was the case. A fact that could not be disguised was that the cost of oil produced from the mineral torbanite could not be expected to be as low as the cost of ordinary crude oil, and this being so the permanent establishment of an important industry such as this deserved to be should and would, he believed, receive the support of the Government, The British Burmah Petro-lenin Company had, by agreement, now assumed the technical control of this South African company, and the ultimate success of the business would add materially to its resource.
In the current year the prices of benzine and kerosene in India had shown a substantial rise and, as a result, they were now working on a sound basis. If these conditions continued they should see a substantially increased working profit as a result of the year's operations, Within the last few days the board had learned that their drilling programme, to which he had previously referred, was starting to give results. Cabled ' advices from the field announced that a well on an area they had not previously exploited had been brought in, flowing 200 barrels per day. This was of the utmost importance, as it went to help to guarantee maintaining the production required to feed the refinery, All things being equal they should be able to look forward to better times.
The report was unanimously adopted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.