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The largest ever continuous drilling programme will start soon off the Taranaki coast, say New Zealand Oil & Gas and Pan Pacific Petroleum.
They say the Ocean Patriot drilling rig is under tow from the Canterbury Basin and it will take about five days to move it up the east coast of the South Island and through the Cook Strait to the Taranaki Basin.
"It's an exciting time for the company and for the industry with the start of this, the largest continuous offshore drilling programme ever undertaken in New Zealand," NZOG executive chairman Tony Radford said.
Drilling of Tieke-1, which has a potential recoverable volume of 15 million barrels, is expected to start late next week.
Tieke-1 is located in the Tui petroleum permit PMP 38158 and lies 40km offshore and about 8km from the Tui oilfield. The well will be drilled to 3600m in a water depth of 122m, which is expected to take 18 days.
Exploration in the Taranaki Basin by NZOG and its joint venture partners has resulted in three commercial discoveries from only five exploration wells in the past four years.
These discoveries - Tui, Amokura and Pateke - are currently being developed as part of the Tui area oil development within PMP 38158.
The development drilling for this project, consisting of four horizontal development wells, will start immediately after Tieke-1.
The Ocean Patriot will also drill the Hector structure and then the Taranui prospect to finish the six-month-long drilling campaign.
Pan Pacific Petroleum and NZOG are participants in Tieke-1 and PMP 38158. Others are AWE New Zealand, New Zealand Overseas Petroleum, and Mitsui E & P New Zealand.
NZOG shares closed up 1c at $1.03 yesterday.
- NZPA
