Big oil flows from third Rimu well

More oil and gas has been found in large quantities at Taranaki's newly discovered Rimu field, prompting a decision to immediately drill more wells.

Houston-based explorer Swift Energy said yesterday that testing of the Rimu-B2 well, the third drilled in the field, had flowed up to 1384 barrels of crude oil and 9.4 million cubic feet of gas a day.

The announcement further suggests that the Rimu discovery, south of Hawera, could be New Zealand's biggest onshore oil find.

It also shows that oil and gas have been found in three different geological structures probed by three different wells.

The field's discovery well, Rimu-A1, which was drilled a year ago, produced test flows of up to 1525 barrels of oil and 4.8 million cubic feet of gas a day from a sandstone formation.

The second well, Rimu-B1, which was drilled primarily to try to establish the southern boundary of the field, also produced strong flows of oil and gas from multiple zones, particularly a deeper sandstone formation.

Swift president Terry Swift said from Houston that his company was extremely pleased with the latest test results.

Swift has now decided to move its drilling rig back to site of the Rimu-A well, 2km to the north, and to drill a further well, Rimu-A2.

Once that well has been drilled, Swift will immediately turn its attention to the larger Kauri structure, which is contained in an exploration permit covering 40,000ha both onshore and offshore.

Meanwhile, Swift has bought a substantial industrial building at Bell Block.

Swift Energy New Zealand operations manager Don Green, who has just arrived in Taranaki from Houston, said the building would be used for warehousing and office space.

Swift Energy is an independent oil and gas company that was formed in 1979.

Its current operations focus on Texas, Wyoming and Louisiana in the United States, and New Zealand.

- NZPA