Taranaki oil strike may flow for up to a decade

NEW PLYMOUTH - South Taranaki has recorded its first oil discovery for two years, with the Rimu-A1 well flowing hundreds of barrels of black gold since Sunday night.

The Rimu discovery is around the 3596m level within the Tariki sandstones, not the fractured Tikorangi limestones which initially gush but then quickly falter.

The Tariki sands are more likely to continue producing oil for perhaps a decade or more as pressure within the field falls off slowly.

Texas-based Swift Energy believes the Rimu prospect has the potential to contain up to 100 million barrels of oil or 1000 billion cubic feet of gas - making it a medium-sized field for New Zealand.

"You are going to be happy with what you see. It [the producing zone] is rather thick, about 40 metres," Swift Energy chairman Earl Swift said.

He confirmed that Swift would make an official statement on its discovery today.

All oil so far produced at the Rimu site - believed to be several hundred but less than 1000 barrels - has been trucked to Fletcher Challenge Energy's Waihapa production station for processing. The discovery is the most southern oil strike in Taranaki and may mean more is waiting to be found - from south of the Waihapa-Ngaere field, east of Stratford, to off South Taranaki.

Swift Energy certainly hopes so, as it has already applied for an offshore extension to its Rimu permit.

- NZPA