Offshore staff
WEST PERTH, Australia -- Carnarvon (NZ) Pty has farmed into license PEP38524 in New Zealand’s offshore Taranaki basin, taking a 10% equity interest from AWE New Zealand.
In exchange, Carnarvon will contribute towards the cost of the upcoming Tuatara-1 exploration well. The agreement is conditional on approvals from New Zealand’s government.
Tuatara-1 will target potential oil reserves of 80-100 MMbbl. The well is to be drilled in 50 m (164 ft) water depth, around 15 km (9.3 mi) north of New Zealand’s South Island, and to a sub-surface depth of 2,000 m (6,562 ft).
The Tuatara prospect is thought to hold sandstone reservoirs typical of a Taranaki basin structural trap.
According to Carnarvon, the seismic expression over the structure shows similarities with Maari, New Zealand’s largest oil field, 80 km (49.7 mi) to the northwest. Seismic amplitudes over Tuatara may indicate migration of hydrocarbons into the trap.
Carnarvon expects to pay $2.4-2.8 million towards the well costs. It describes Tuatara-1 as a relatively low risk exploration prospect with the chances of success estimated at around.
Carnarvon’s CEO Ted Jacobson says: “We see a lot of exploration opportunities within Southeast Asia and Australasia, but many do not fit our strict new venture guidelines. However we believe Tuatara is a quality prospect that is well defined on seismic and ready to drill now.
“If successful it would add significantly to our current oil reserves. New Zealand is one of our favored places to invest with very good fiscal terms, a supportive government, and certainly within our time zone of operations.”
Other partners in the PEP38524 joint venture are ROC and KEA Petroleum.
07/06/2010
Courtesy SENER
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