Explorations prove fruitless

The Hoki-1 oil well in deep water off the Taranaki coast has drawn a blank, with participants New Zealand Oil & Gas reporting that no significant hydrocarbon indications were intersected at the well.

The well, drilled by the Kan Tan IV rig in 330m of water about 135km west of New Plymouth, is expected to have cost around $50 million.

As a wildcat well, failure to find oil was the most likely outcome, but hopes had been held of a major discovery.

Company New Zealand Oil & Gas, which has a 10 per cent stake in the permit, said the well reached a depth of 3700m and wireline logging was under way.

After the logging programme, Hoki-1 would be plugged and abandoned and the rig would move to drill at least two wells in the area around the existing Tui oil fields where NZOG is a 12.5 per cent partner.

In other energy news, Widespread Energy has plugged and abandoned its Kotuku exploration bore on the West Coast of the South Island, which it reported oil and gas flows at in March.

The decision to abandon before the well reached its target depth of 250 metres was made after the company experienced engineering difficulties with the casing in the well.

The well is in the petroleum exploration permit PEP 38526 area.

The Greymouth Star previously reported that people have known for years that the Kotuku area is oil-rich. A nearby creek is locally referred to as the Soda Spring, because gas bubbles through the surface.

New Zealand Oil and Gas, then Solid Energy held petroleum permits in the area before relinquishing them.

"We're not going to find millions of barrels (of oil) but there's a reasonable chance of finding something," Mr Castle was quoted as saying.

- NZPA