The Maari field partners plan to spud the Manaia-1 appraisal well later this month in New Zealand’s offshore Taranaki basin, following completion of the Moki reservoir development drilling program.
Offshore staff
MELBOURNE-- The Maari field partners plan to spud the Manaia-1 appraisal well later this month in New Zealand’s offshore Taranaki basin, following completion of the Moki reservoir development drilling program.
According to Cue Energy Resources, Manaia-1 will be drilled as an extended reach well from the Maari platform, and should take 47 days to drill. It will target a location thought to be up-dip from the Maui-4 exploratory well.
If the result confirms the presence of a producible oil column, the well will be completed and tied into the Maari facilities for testing and subsequent production.
Manaia is 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of the Maari field in exploration permit PEP 38413. It was discovered in 1970 by the Maui-4 well, which intersected an oil accumulation in the Mangahewa Formation reservoir, testing at 575 b/d.
Two further oil accumulations were also encountered in the Moki Formation, but were not tested. According to Cue, Manaia has estimated oil in place of 58 MMbbl within the Mangahewa reservoir.
Once Manaia-1 has been completed, the partners expect to start work on the M2A development well in late September. The M2A reservoir occurs roughly 50 m (164 ft) above the Moki Formation and is thought to have mean oil in place of 43 MMbbl.
