Sunda Energy, Pancontinental looking to explore offshore New Zealand
Why this news matters:
- The permit applications signal renewed exploration interest in New Zealand's Taranaki Basin as the country seeks to strengthen domestic gas supply and energy security through new offshore resource development.
- Planned seismic reprocessing and technical studies could help advance known discoveries, such as Awakino, while identifying additional prospects, potentially expanding future gas production opportunities in the basin.
Sunda Energy has applied for a new petroleum exploration permit in the offshore area of the Taranaki Basin, west of New Zealand's North Island.
The 645-km permit contains the Awakino gas condensate discovery, drilled in 1985.
In April, Sunda announced it had negotiated the conditional acquisition of local E&P company Matahio Energy. Sunda added that it is on the lookout for further growth opportunities in New Zealand in gas exploration, development and production.
If it is successful with its latest application, the work terms would comprise technical studies of the drilled well and other field data, followed by reprocessing of 450 sq km of 3D seismic.
The aims would be to delineate Awakino for future appraisal and development as well as to assess the area's wider exploration potential.
Regulating agency New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPAM) has accepted Sunda’s application. Competing offers are invited during the three-month open bid process.
Dr. Andy Butler, Sunda’s CEO said the application was in line with the current New Zealand administration’s policy of supporting domestic gas supply and energy security.
Pancontinental subsidiary targets deepwater acreage
Taranaki Energy, a subsidiary of Australian independent Pancontinental Energy, has also applied for a permit that covers a 9,972.5-sq-km area in the deepwater offshore Taranaki Basin.
The proposed initial two-year work program involves reprocessing and interpreting legacy 2D seismic data, basin modeling and identifying potential exploration targets.
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About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.