First shipment of Kupe light crude ready to go

Kupe's plant at Hawera in south Taranaki. Photo / Supplied

The first shipment of light crude oil from the Kupe project is due to leave Port Taranaki next week.

The 120,000 to 180,000 barrel shipment on tanker British Chivalry, due in port tomorrow, was contracted to BP and was going to the Kwinana Refinery in Australia, project operator Origin Energy said.

Kupe has been producing natural gas, LPG and light crude since the wells were opened in early December.

The light crude has been trucked from the gas processing plant at Hawera and stored at the Kupe tank farm at Omata, near Port Taranaki.

Origin Energy New Zealand general manager Chris Bush said production of gas and light crude had been going as expected since commissioning started, with the shipment being a significant milestone for the project.

The complex offshore and onshore Kupe production system was operating successfully, and in the next two months Origin would continue to systematically test remaining plant and equipment, he said.

When fully operational Kupe is expected to provide 10 to 15 per cent of this country's annual gas demand and more than half the LPG demand.

In the next 15 to 20 years about 254 petajoules of natural gas are expected from the project, as well as 1.1 million tonnes of LPG and 14.7 million barrels of light crude.

The crude will be exported to refineries in the Australasian and South Pacific regions.

Partners in Kupe are Origin with 50 per cent, Genesis Energy with 31 per cent, New Zealand Oil & Gas with 15 per cent, and Mitsui E&P Australia with 4 per cent.

- NZPA