Finding new needles in the Taranaki haystack important for petroleum conference

Sources: Ross Louthean and NZResources.com

The conference, at the SkyCity Convention Centre from September 19-22, will attract a large contingent of international companies and foreign fund managers, following the positive revival of interest in New Zealand following the end to low, fixed gas prices from the maturing Maui field.

This year has seen unprecedented exploration activity with the drilling focus on the offshore and onshore Taranaki Basin – currently NZ’s sole production region.

But, as with the law of averages, the results were generally disappointing and the resultant financial losses for two players -- New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd (NZOG) and AWE Ltd –- shows that from a share investor’s point of view that a commercial find or the next best thing is the fillip required in the year ahead.

Crown Minerals, which is pushing a positive line, said that the oil and gas sector last year ranked as New Zealand’s third largest export earner, behind only the meat and dairy industries, with returns of $2.8 billion in 2008/09.

“The focus of this year’s conference is on the role the oil industry could play in transforming NZ’s economy and how we can ensure that our country continues to be a highly attractive global destination for petroleum investment,” says Crown Minerals group manager, Chris Kilby.

“Our efforts to provide better information about NZ’s petroleum resources is being noticed internationally and is enhancing our reputation as a global petroleum investment destination,” he said.

Over the past few years Crown Minerals has been upgrading data acquisition and expanding the freely available seismic data from the offshore surveys it conducts.

The 2010 global petroleum survey conducted by Vancouver-based Fraser Institute ranked NZ at the top for the quality of its geological database, alongside Norway and five Australian States. When commenting on New Zealand as an investment destination, respondents typically noted NZ’s easy and open access to data.

This year’s conference theme is Transformation. Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee will speak about “unlocking New Zealand’s petroleum potential”.

The list of speakers include international experts and key decision-makers to New Zealand’s major industry players such as Anadarko, AWE, Greymouth Petroleum, Origin Energy, OMV, NZOG, and Shell.

The international speakers includes Farouk Al-Kasim, hailed as one of the architects of Norway’s success as a leading oil producing nation. Al-Kasim, who heads a Norwegian-based consultancy that provides top-level advice on petroleum resource management, will make a keynote presentation about “lessons from the Norwegian experience”.

Other international speakers include Buechler Capital Asset Management president, Bill Buechler, who will talk about investment opportunities and Alex Kemp, Professor of Petroleum Economics at the University of Aberdeen’s Business School, who will speak about international trends in petroleum taxation and regulations.

Specific conference topics include:

• What can be learned from other countries to convert oil and gas potential to generate economic wealth?
• What should NZ do to maximise its participation and investment in the industry?
• The exploration potential of the Great South Basin.
• The future of gas in fuelling NZ and the world.
• Use of new technology in advancing frontier exploration.
• Latest basin studies and expert views on exploration techniques.
• What is NZ’s oil exploration and production potential?
• Updates on the Government’s energy strategy.
   

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