KEY POINTS:
A near-150m high platform is due this week to begin the final leg of a journey from Malaysia to Taranaki to drill for oil at the Maari field.
The 10,000-tonne wellhead platform was on board the world's largest heavy transport vessel, the Blue Marlin, Maari development operator OMV New Zealand said.
The vessel last week anchored in the calm waters of Admiralty Bay in the Marlborough Sounds over the weekend while the platform was unloaded.
The platform will be towed to the Maari field, some 80km off the coast of South Taranaki in waters more than 100m deep.
OMV New Zealand managing director Steve Hounsell said the trip to Taranaki, and the subsequent installation of the platform, was weather dependent and not without technical challenges.
Once it was installed, eight development wells would be drilled.
A floating production, storage and offtake vessel would also be connected to the platform.
The Maari oilfield has estimated reserves of about 50 million barrels of oil and a life of some 10 to 15 years.
OMV said first production from Maari was expected in the third quarter of this year, with its daily plateau rate to be around 35,000 barrels.
- NZPA
