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The 20 millionth barrel of oil has been produced from the Tui area oilfields in offshore Taranaki.
And for the first time a shipment of Tui oil is to be sent to the Marsden Pt refinery, near Whangarei, to be refined in this country .
Production from the fields started about 18 months ago at the end of July 2007, and Tui output has been the major factor in a big jump in oil exports.
Statistics New Zealand valued crude oil exports at $2.89 billion in the year to November, while oil exports lifted sixfold in the first year of Tui production to the end of July.
New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG), which has a 12.5 per cent stake in Tui, said the 20 millionth barrel was produced today.
The fields were estimated to have about another 30 million barrels of proven and probable reserves.
That estimate of remaining reserves followed several upgrades of the amount thought to be in the fields. It was more than the 27.9m estimate of the total amount before production started, NZOG said.
The oil was shipped by tanker to refineries in Australia and southeast Asia, with several shipments having also been sent to Hawaii. This month the first shipment would go to Marsden Pt.
Dennis Washer, the New Zealand general manager of Tui fields operator Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), said oil from Tui had not gone to Marsden Pt previously because of the nature of the product.
Marsden Pt was originally configured for non-waxy crude, while that from Tui was a more waxy product, he said.
The refinery had decided to trial a new product and probably blend it with some other crudes.
If the Tui oil blended well with other crudes and the price was right, hopefully the Tui consortium could look forward to further sales to Marsden Pt.
The Tui area oil fields include three producing reservoirs, Tui, Amokura and Pateke and lie 50km off the Taranaki coast. Oil is produced from four wells, through a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, the Umuroa.
AWE has a 42.5 per cent stake in Tui, Mitsui has 35 per cent, and Pan Pacific Petroleum 10 per cent.
- NZPA
