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NZ Oil & Gas increases exploration spending

Oilfield Technology,


New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) is increasing its exploration spending as the company looks to find replacements for its Kupe and Tui oil and gas interests.

The Wellington-based company spent $25 million on exploration and evaluation in the three months ended 31 March 2014, according to its quarterly cash flow report.

Oil and gas fields

Both the Tui oil field and Kupe oil and gas fields off the Taranaki coast are in decline as the company looks for alternative sites.

The Pateke exploration well, which falls in the Tui permit zone, is thought to contain 2.5 million bbls of oil, the company said. If Pateke production went ahead it would "bolster output rather than changing the end date" of the Tui field, explained Andrew Knight CEO.

‘Cautiously optimistic’

"It has oil in it which appears to have the same characteristics as discoveries nearby elsewhere in the Tui permit and we are cautiously optimistic it will get to the point where we complete drilling [and] we will be able to develop it," Knight added.

NZOG has a 27.5% stake in the Tui field and a 15% interest in the Kupe field.

The company’s share in Tui's oil production increased to 93 330 bbls in the quarter, from 43 622 bbls in the same period a year earlier, as the company took a greater stake in the field. Kupe's gas and oil production recovered in the quarter after an operational shutdown in the comparable period.


Edited from various sources by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/30042014/nzog_increases_exploration_spending_157/

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