Pohokura gas flowing

The Pohokura field in Taranaki is now producing commercial quantities of gas and condensate, joint venture owners Shell, Todd and OMV said yesterday.

Commercial quantities were now flowing from the three completed onshore wells through the production station at Motunui, near New Plymouth. The gas reserves of the field are estimated to be in excess of 700 Petajoules (PJs).

Commissioning of the production station will continue over the coming weeks while offshore the platform installation is under way, with the six offshore wells expected to come on stream in the next year. Natural gas from Pohokura will be fed into the North Island gas network.