THE ROMA BORE. 
little doubt that, in this gas at Roma, the State has an asset that can 
at any time be turned to profitable account, even if oil should never be 
found. It may not be considered advisable, however, to do so until a 
market can be found for the residual gas. 
Estimates published by the Bureau of Mines, United States of 
America, in 1919, show that the capital expenditure on an absorption 
plant to treat 6,000,000 cubic feet of gas per diem is less than £1 for 
every 300,000 cubic feet per annum. With an extraction of only 1 pint 
per 1,000 cubic feet, the gross return per annum for each 300,000 cubic 
feet would be 300 pints of petrol, worth in Australia to-day some £7. 
The running expenses should absorb only a small proportion of this 
return, as all fuel for power and distillation would be available from 
a small proportion of the residual gas, and labour and superintendence 
costs would be low. There is little doubt, therefore, of the commercial 
possibilities of the extraction of the petrol, provided the supply of gas 
is large; and, as shown above, this condition seems to be fairly well 
assured. 
685 . x 
