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AWE, Mitsui, NZOG and Pan Pacific awarded new offshore Taranaki permit
16 April 2009 - The four partners in the Tui oil field have been awarded a new exploration permit over 80 kilometres (km) southwest of Tui in the offshore Taranaki Basin.
One of the joint venture partners New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd (NZOG) said the partners were awarded a 3,000 sq km permit area PEP 51321 called Kahurangi.
The new permit is operated by AWE New Zealand Pty Ltd which also operates the Tui field.
The new Petroleum Exploration Permit (PEP) 51321 lies immediately to the south of PEP 38483, which the same joint venture already holds. This existing permit covers some of the Hector area, but is now called Aihe
The Kahurangi permit was a successful “Priority in Time” application.
The joint venture shares of PEP 51321 are: AWE 44.3%, Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd 22.7%, NZOG18.9% and Pan Pacific Petroleum 14.1%.
NZOG said that from analysis of existing data in the new permit the joint venture believes there are several promising structures which could contain oil and/or gas.
“However, over much of the permit area no seismic data has been acquired since 1981 and no exploration wells have ever been drilled.”
NZOG said that in the next 12 months of the five year permit the joint venture intends to reprocess 800 km of historic seismic data using modern analysis techniques, and conduct geological and geophysical studies.
In year two 200 km of new 2D seismic data would be obtained. A decision on drilling an exploration well is to be taken at the end of the second year.
Sources: NZOG and Lindsay Clark
