US driller hopes for 2011 start in south

United States oil giant Anadarko Petroleum hopes to be drilling in deep water off the New Zealand coast next summer.

Bret Dixon, of the company's international new ventures division, said in Auckland yesterday the timing of any drilling in the Canterbury Basin would be in conjunction with other operators drilling in other areas such as the Great South Basin.

The Houston based company has a 25 per cent stake of BP's well in the Gulf of Mexico which has just been capped following its disastrous blowout, and is in dispute with the British company over liability. Dixon said he could not say much about the disaster.

"We're going to learn whatever we need to and we're going to apply the best practices we can in terms of protecting the environment in New Zealand."

Anadarko is one of several big companies exploring off the coast which are represented at the biennial Petroleum Conference. The deadline for a decision to drill further south in the Great South Basin falls next year.

"We'd love to drill a well in the 2011-2012 season," said Dixon. "All deep water frontier operators in New Zealand see there's a lot of benefit in creating some operational synergies."

The company had talked to other operators before it committed to its stake in the Canterbury Basin, where it has partnered with Australia's Origin Energy.

Mobilising an international rig that can drill in harsh environments was not done quickly.

"Everyone if they could would love to share some of those costs with those operators. I don't think we're any different than them."

Dixon presented preliminary data to the conference yesterday.

"We're very encouraged about our position in New Zealand and we're optimistic about our path forward."

Early this year it was reported seismic information suggested the prospect could hold gas equivalent to more than 500 million barrels of oil.

Anadarko also has a 45 per cent stake in a longer-term deep water prospect off the Taranaki coast. It has just collected 5600km of 2d seismic data in deepwater Taranaki, which was being processed in Britain.