302 The Philippine Journal of Science ww 



taken to explore the region, and no mention of petroleum in Tay- 

 abas is found in the records of the Spanish mining bureau. 

 Soon after American occupation, however, prospectors reported 

 oil from Bondoc Peninsula, and the field began to receive at- 

 tention. E. W. McDaniel, S. W. Tilden, and the late Olney Bon- 

 dourant were among the earliest prospectors to locate petroleum 

 placer claims in Tayabas. Samples of the petroleum were sub- 

 mitted to the Bureau of Government Laboratories (now Bureau 

 of Science) in 1903. 



A shallow well was sunk on Bahay River in 1906 by the Tay- 

 abas Mutual Oil Association, with E. W. McDaniel as manag- 

 ing director. It is stated that 46 gallons of oil were obtained 

 from this well in one day. The well was sunk "to a depth of 

 127 feet using a 3| by 2| inch by 3-foot bit operated by a hand 

 power springpole and duplex block attachment." Another well, 

 23 meters deep, was sunk on Malipa Creek by Mr. E. J. Cooke 

 and likewise is reported to have encountered oil. 



Gradually, business firms in Manila became interested in the 

 field, and the area over which claims were located constantly grew 

 larger. Castle Bros. Wolf & Sons (now Pacific Commercial 

 Company) acquired a number of claims on Bahay River, and, 

 about the time of the publication by the Bureau of Science of 

 a report x on the physical and chemical nature of the petroleum 

 from the well drilled by Mr. McDaniel, this firm organized the 

 Bahay Valley Oil Company and started to sink a deep well. 

 The new well (Bahay 2) was located on Bahay River within 

 50 meters of the old well (Bahay 1), and was drilled by 

 Mr. 0. A. Leary. The well reached a depth of less than 100 

 meters, and obtained no more oil than the old well. 



With the beginning of drilling by the Bahay Valley Oil Com- 

 pany, in 1910, interest in the Tayabas field reached fever heat, 

 and claims were staked far and wide, but no further exploration 

 was undertaken. Since that time most of the locators have 

 merely awaited developments. 



PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE REGION AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION 



The earliest published reference to petroleum in Tayabas is an 

 anonymous article 2 dealing with the activity of the Tayabas 

 Mutual Oil Association in 1906. A short discussion of the oc- 

 currence of petroleum in the Philippines by Smith 3 contains 



'Richmond, Geo. F., This Journal, Sec. A (1910), 5, 1. 

 "Oil fields of Tayabas, Far Eastern Rev. (1906), 3, 102. 

 'Ibid. (1907), 3, 9. 



