Pateke well restarts

Photo / Supplied

Production from the Pateke-3H well in the offshore Taranaki Tui area oilfields restarted at the weekend after being shut in since late June.

New Zealand Oil & Gas, which has a 12.5 per cent stake in Tui, said technical issues that delayed initial efforts to restart the well had been resolved and Pateke-3H had resumed flowing at more than 4000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).

Some initial "flush" production had been achieved and it was expected that the Pateke-3H well would settle at the longer term production forecast of about 3000bopd, NZOG said yesterday.

The Tui area fields were now back and flowing from all four wells, with field production in the past two days exceeding 10,000bopd.

Other companies with stakes in Tui are AWE, the field operator, with 42.5 per cent, Mitsui E&P Australia with 35 per cent, and Pan Pacific Petroleum with 10 per cent.