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Turangi Petroleum Permit Highlights Ongoing Potential of Taranaki
1 May 2006 - Associate Minister of Energy, Harry Duynhoven, today said that the award of a permit to Greymouth Petroleum to produce oil and gas from the Turangi discovery confirmed that onshore Taranaki will continue to have a major role in New Zealand’s energy future.
Associate Minister of Energy, Harry Duynhoven, today said that the award of a permit to Greymouth Petroleum to produce oil and gas from the Turangi discovery confirmed that onshore Taranaki will continue to have a major role in New Zealand’s energy future.
"It is exciting to see a New Zealand owned and operated exploration and production company make a discovery of this kind which is significant in terms of its short term contribution to the country’s energy needs, and its medium term implications for ongoing exploration in onshore Taranaki," Mr Duynhoven said today.
The Petroleum Mining Permit (PMP 38161) is over a 28km2 area 25km northeast of New Plymouth and immediately onshore from the large Pohokura gas field due to come into production this year.
It was awarded in March 2004 as an exploration permit to Greymouth Petroleum on the basis that a well would be drilled within the first 12 months of the permit.
The Turangi field is part of the of the Kapuni Group (Mangahewa Formation) and, with estimated ultimate recoverable reserves (P50) of 4.8 million barrels of condensate and 144 PJ gas, it is the third largest onshore gas discovery in New Zealand history, behind the Kapuni and McKee fields.
"The discovery reinforces the geological prospectivity of Kapuni Group targets in the Taranaki Basin, and it demonstrates the importance of continuing exploration in onshore Taranaki to meet our short term energy needs," Mr Duynhoven said today.
"While offshore exploration for major fields remained critical to New Zealand’s long term energy needs, the Government also recognises the importance of smaller, but material, onshore developments.
"Turangi is a prime example of how quickly an onshore discovery in Taranaki can be brought into production.
"Discoveries of this kind have an enormously positive impact in providing New Zealand with more time for offshore exploration as well as for developing a wider range of sustainable energy alternatives," Mr Duynhoven said today.
The Minister has asked officials to prepare a paper on possible initiatives for hastening further exploration and production Government consideration to supplement the initiatives put in place in 2004.
