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NZOG acquiring offshore south Taranaki regional seismic
17 May 2010 - Wellington-based New Zealand Oil & Gas is acquiring a series of regional seismic lines across the offshore south Taranaki Basin including traverses across its recently defined Kaupokonui prospect in NZOG’s 100% owned PEP 51311.
Sources: NZOG and Lindsay Clark
NZOG said, in its March quarter report, that the seismic vessel Reflect Resolution has been contracted to acquire over 600 km of new regional seismic lines scheduled for May.
The lines will be tied into previous wells that will enable NZOG to evaluate the effects of the region’s complex geological evolution on key petroleum system elements. The information gained will help determine the location and timing of oil and gas charge, and migration pathways.
NZOG said this comprehensive approach will give the company an advantage in assessing the prospectivity of the southern and western offshore Taranaki basin.
PEP 51311 is within the same petroleum system that has charged the Moki sands which hold the reservoir for the Maari oil field 20 km to the west, and the Farewell sands of the Kupe field 20 km to the east.
Kaupokonui prospect is a stacked series of Motueka coastal sands, which are laterally truncated and prognosed to be sealed by deep canyons. The prospect relies on a trapping mechanism found in other parts of the world but not yet shown to work in Taranaki.
Estimates of mean prospective recoverable resources in the main objective horizon of Kaupokonui are 200 plus million barrels of oil.
NZOG is seeking to reduce its 100% holding in PEP 51311 by a farmout.
The company is also seeking to farmout part of its 40% interest in PEP 38259, offshore Canterbury Basin containing the Barque prospect.
Barque is a high relief anticlinal dome capped by transgressive sand (the principal objective) and sealed by marine shale. Charge is from the thermally mature coal measures of the Taratu Formation, which directly underlie the reservoir.
A drilling commitment for PEP 38259 needs to be made by August 2010. The Barque prospect will require the availability of a suitable offshore drilling rig.
Related links
Taranaki basin - Subscribe to free email newsletters - NZ Petroleum Conference - Crown Minerals Annual Report
