Tui JV to Drill Two Wells in Newly Mapped Area Offshore New Zealand

Partners in the offshore Taranaki Tui oil field disclosed Tuesday that they have approved plans to drill the Pateke-4H infill development well and the Oi exploration well on the offshore PMP 38158 permit, after having successfully negotiated for the use of the semisubmersible, Kan Tan IV.

Pateke-4H targets a newly mapped northern extension of the Pateke North field that is not being accessed by the current producing well, Parteke-3. Pan Pacific Petroleum (PPP), one of the partners in the joint venture, estimated that Pateke-4H has the potential to recover an additional two to four million barrels of oil from the Pateke field.

Commenting on the JV’s plans for Pateke-4H, PPP said in a statement on Tuesday: "Drilling of Pateke-4H is planned for late-2013 to early-2014, subject to rig timing, with subsea tie-in to the Tui field floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) and first oil expected around end-2014 to early-2015."

Pateke-4H will be drilled to a total depth of 22,638 feet (6,900 meters) and will include a 8,202-foot (2,500-meter) horizontal section.
PPP also noted that the Oi prospect is a 4-way dip closure created by drape over an underlying basement high, similar to the structures at the Tui, Amokura and Pateke fields. The Oi exploration well, like Pateke-4H, will also target the same producing reservoir level.

PPP stated that the Oi structure could contain a mean recoverable resource of up to 15 million barrels of oil. As Oi is sited only eight miles to the northeast of the Tui field FPSO, the well can be immediately tied-in and move into the production phase in the event of a commercial discovery. Oi, to be sited 394 feet (120 meters) below waters, will be drilled to 10,499 feet (3,200 meters).

New Zealand's first stand-alone offshore oil development is the Tui Area Oil Project, consisting of three fields, Tui, Amokura and Pateke, connected to the Umuroa FPSO. 

The partners of PMP 38158 are: New Zealand Oil & Gas (12.5 percent), AWE (42.5 percent), Mitsui (35 percent) and PPP (10 percent). AWE is the operator of the permit.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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