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Kan Tan IV semi-sub rig arrives at Hoki-1 drill site off Taranaki
9 March 2010 - The Kan Tan IV semi-submersible drilling rig has arrived at the Hoki-1 exploration wellsite from Australia and is preparing to start drilling, operator AWE Ltd reported.
Sources: AWE, Origin Energy and Lindsay Clark
The Hoki-1 well is targeting the oil potential of the Cretaceous North Cape reservoir sequence and the underlying Wainui sandstones in exploration permit PEP 38401 in the offshore Taranaki Basin.
Hoki-1 is testing a large anticline, with potential to contain 250 million barrels of recoverable oil. The prospect lies approximately 135 km west of New Plymouth further from shore than any previous offshore Taranaki Basin well. The Hoki prospect lies on the edge of the continental shelf in a water depth of approximately 330 m.
The well is planned to be drilled to a total depth of approximately 3,570 m.
This is the first well in AWE’s 2010 drilling campaign in offshore Taranaki. AWE will drill at least two wells in the area surrounding the existing oil fields at Tui, at Tui South West-1, followed by Kahu-1.
In the acreage surrounding Hoki, AWE holds a number of follow-up drilling prospects of a similar play type, which may be drilled later in the campaign if the results of Hoki confirm the critical play elements.
Participants in Hoki-1 and PEP 38401 are: AWE (50%), OMV New Zealand (21.25%), Todd Petroleum Mining (18.75%), NZOG (10%).
After AWE completes its programme, Origin Energy plans to take the Kan Tan IV rig to drill two exploration wells Korimako and Tarapunga in the Northland Basin from the end of the June 2010 quarter. The two gas prospects lie south west of Auckland in PEP 38619.
The Kan Tan IV rig is owned by Sinopec and is operated and managed by Danish-based Maersk Contractors.
