Energy oldtimer Cue returns to NZ market

The Maari field, off the Taranaki coast, was expected to produce oil for the next 15 years. Photo / Rob Tucker

Australian-based Cue Energy Resources is returning to the New Zealand sharemarket as the prospects for the offshore Taranaki Maari oil development, in which Cue has a 5 per cent stake, brighten further.

Cue, 27 per cent-owned by New Zealand energy producer Todd Energy and listed on the ASX, is to list on the NZX today.

Already 26 per cent of Cue's shareholders were New Zealanders and together they owned 40 per cent of Cue's shares, the company said.

The listing in this country comes shortly after it was announced that more oil had been found at the Maari field, where production started in February, with another discovery nearby at the Manaia field.

Those discoveries took the amount of recoverable oil at the development to more than 100 million barrels.

"Maari itself is about 50 million, and conservatively we're going to get another 50 [million]-plus from Manaia and the M2A sands," said Richard Tweedie, who is Cue chairman and Todd managing director.

Now it was a matter, when the time was right, of production testing at the two new discoveries, which were definitely commercial and would be tied into the existing offshore platform.

Maari was expected to produce oil for another 15 years, although output would slow in time, Tweedie said.

Cue also had oil production in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and gas production in Indonesia. as well as exploration licences in those countries and in Australia.

"To position oneself, for example, in Australia in the manner Cue has, it really has some serious upside, that if one has a good look at Cue one would say it maybe worth having a punt on."

Cue originally was a New Zealand company which started in the 1970s.

It left the NZX about half a dozen years ago, mainly because it was felt NZX listing rules did not cater sufficiently for resource companies, Tweedie said.

That had changed and the NZX was far more aligned with the ASX now.

"It [Cue] has some attractive New Zealand features that we thought might be of interest to further New Zealand investors."

Given the dearth of oil stocks on the New Zealand board of any quality, with the only one really being NZ Oil & Gas, the addition of Cue might result in New Zealand investors deciding to take a position in Cue, he said. Also, the NZX needed more companies.

The second-largest shareholder in Cue, with 16.3 per cent, was Singapore Petroleum, which earlier this year was bought by PetroChina International, Cue said.

PetroChina was an international oil major of similar size to Exxon Mobil.

Cue has a market capitalisation of about A$180 million ($224.4 million).

THE COMPANY
* 27 per cent owned by Todd Energy.
* 26 per cent of Cue's shareholders were NZers.

- NZPA