Taranaki Basin

Basin Summary

Taranaki Basin covers an area of about 330,000 km² and is currently the only producing basin in New Zealand. Over 400 onshore and offshore exploration and production wells have been drilled to date. None have been drilled beyond the shelf edge. The basin is an oil, gas and condensate province. A majority of fields, including the large Maui and Kapuni fields, contain mainly gas but nearly all fields produce a proportion of oil/condensate. The offshore Tui and Maari discoveries are predominantly oil. The basin remains under-explored compared to many comparable rift complex basins of its size and there remains considerable potential for further discoveries.

• Taranaki Basin Fact File [1.27 MB PDF]
  Including basin history and information on basin reservoirs and plays.
• Taranaki Basin Map [517 kB JPEG]
   

Key facts

Location A basin of about 330,000 sq km onshore and offshore the west coast of the North Island. Geology Jurassic Murihiku marine rocks and coal measures may be basement or earliest basin-fill. Early Cretaceous to Paleogene intraplate rift basin, with marine  transgression and on-lap. Large Cretaceous delta beyond the shelf edge. Back-arc subsidence and some compression in Neogene. Basin-fill up to 9,000 m.

Wells

Over 400 onshore and offshore exploration and production wells drilled since 1950. No wells beyond the continental shelf.

Hydrocarbons

Paleogene reservoirs are primarily gas-condensate, although Kapuni F sands are oil. Neogene reservoirs are primarily oil.

Producing fields

Offshore: Maui (gas-condensate and oil), Tui Area (oil), Pohokura (gas-condensate), Maari-Manaia (oil), Kupe (gas-condensate).

Onshore: Kapuni (gas-condensate), McKee (oil and gas), Tariki-Ahuroa  (gas-condensate), Waihapa-Ngaere (oil and gas), Ngatoro (oil and gas), Kaimiro (oil and gas), Mangahewa (gas-condensate), Rimu-Kauri (oil and gas), Cheal (oil), Turangi (gas).

Recent discoveries

Tui (2003, oil), Karewa (2003, gas), Turangi (2005, gas), Awakino South (2008, gas), Kowhai (2008, gas).

Prospects

Many inversion structures, thrusts, extensional structures,  volcanic edifices, submarine fans, diagenetic traps and half-graben fill. Cretaceous reservoirs little explored.

Source rocks

Jurassic, mid- to Late Cretaceous and Paleogene coaly rocks, Early Cretaceous and Paleocene marine shales.

Reservoir rocks

Late Cretaceous to Eocene terrestrial, paralic and nearshore sandstones, Late Cretaceous to Pliocene turbidites, fractured Oligocene limestone, Miocene volcaniclastics, Pliocene shelf sands.

Downstream infrastructure

Maui offshore platforms; Tui and Maari FPSOs; Pohokura, Maari and Kupe unmanned platforms. Eight onshore production stations in Taranaki. North Island gas pipeline network, including pipelines to Gisborne and Hastings. Oil refinery and port at Marsden Point, Whangarei, with connections to the North Island gas pipeline network
and a liquids pipeline to Auckland.

Port facilities

Port of Taranaki
www.porttaranaki.co.nz

Wellington
www.centreport.co.nz

Picton Port
www.portmarlborough.co.nz

• New Zealand Infrastructure and Port Facilities [1.25 MB PDF]
   

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