Tag Oil Commences Drilling Ngapaeruru Well in New Zealand

Tag Oil Ltd. spud an exploration well in its 100-percent owned Petroleum Exploration Permit 38349 in the East Coast Basin of New Zealand. The Ngapaeruru-1 exploration well is targeting the Waipawa black shale and Whangai source rock formations at a depth of 5,906 feet. The well is designed to test the unconventional discovery potential in this portion of the basin.

"Our strategy has always been to build reserves, production infrastructure, and cash flow from our lower risk conventional assets, leveraging these successes to intelligently pursue high-impact opportunities such as the East Coast Basin," said Garth Johnson, Tag Oil's CEO, in a released statement.

"With TAG's continued success in the Taranaki Basin - and our successful commercialization of these discoveries - we continue to deliver on the first part of this plan. Drilling Ngapaeruru-1 is another step in delivering on our business plan: pursuing higher risk, higher impact exploration wells from a very strong financial position."

Tag Oil has conducted extensive geotechnical work on the company's East Coast acreage, including proprietary 2D and 3D seismic that have confirmed that the source rock parameters in the play compare favorably to commercial unconventional plays throughout the world. The company said  528 million proven Taranaki oil reserves and6.9 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves have been discovered to date.

The company is using Webster Drilling's Nova No. 1 drilling rig which was mobilized from the company's Sidewinder oil and gas field in the Taranaki Basin.

With more than 10 years of journalism experience, Robin Dupre specializes in the offshore sector of the oil and gas industry. Email Robin at rdupre@rigzone.com.

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Raisama Withdraws from Farm-In Agreement Offshore New Zealand

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) revealed Wednesday that Raisama Energy is withdrawing from its farm-in agreement to participate in drilling the Kakapo structure in PEP 51311, offshore Taranaki Basin.

NZOG noted in its statement that Raisama acquired the opportunity to earn a ten percent interest in the prospect by paying 20 percent of drilling costs up to $3.1 million (AUD 3 million) and 10 percent after that.

"As the well has not yet been drilled, Raisama's withdrawal means it will not incur these costs," NZOG said in its disclosure.

NZOG is at present, seeking further farm-in partners and a drilling rig on suitable terms.

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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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