I pulled this off of the Yahoo board, which continues to have quality posts about SFY.
Rimu result sparks more exploration
( The Daily News (Taranaki, New Zealand) ) RITCHIE Neil;
05-03-2001
Rimu result sparks more exploration BYLINE: RITCHIE Neil EDITION: 1 SECTION: BUSINESS
SUCCESS at the Rimu field has spurred Australian company Bligh Oil and Minerals to drill
immediately north of the major South Taranaki oil and gas find.
Bligh Oil and Minerals (BOM) and its partners -- Shell subsidiary Fletcher Challenge Energy and
Aussie firm Origin Energy -- are planning to drill the Makino-1 well, south-east of Eltham, in October
and will be targeting several possible oil-bearing formations.
A seismic survey over part of the permit late last year indicated the Rimu trend extended north from
the Rimu-Kauri prospects northward, giving BOM and its partners confidence that the Makino
prospect could contain the equivalent of more than 60 million barrels of oil, worth about $360 million
at today's oil prices.
The companies will be targeting the Tariki sandstones (from which the Rimu field flows), the
Tikorangi limestones (from which the adjacent Waihapa field flows) and the Rimu limestones (which
also flow at Rimu).
BOM is a minor (5%) partner, with Calgary-based Antrim Energy (5%), in the Rimu-Kauri field and
earlier this week -- together with operator Houston-based Swift Energy (90%) -- signed a deal with
Contact Energy to supply Rimu gas to the existing and planned Huntly power stations for the next
10 years. Swift Energy believes the Rimu-Kauri field could contain up to 900 million barrels of oil.
Meanwhile, further north, Ngatoro field operator New Zealand Oil and Gas says it has completed
studies aimed at increasing total production from Ngatoro by up to 2 million barrels over the life of
the field.
In its March quarterly report, Sydney-based NZOG says fracture stimulation of existing wells and a
water injection project should be completed during the current year and, hopefully, maintain Ngatoro
oil production at about 1000 barrels of oil per day for at least the next five years.
Detailed analysis of the latest seismic shot had identified several exploration prospects within the
Ngatoro mining licence, added NZOG, some of which it might drill in the next year or so. NZOG said
its sales from Ngatoro generated $1.3 million net cashflow, with oil prices averaging NZ$61 per
barrel, during the quarter.
As well, NZOG said it was finalising surveying and other details in the Awakino-Waikawau area for
drilling the onshore Opito-1 well into a prospect with the potential to contain up to 330 million barrels
of oil in the Kapuni C and D sands.
Truth |
