Taranaki oil prospects for Norwegian company

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Wednesday 11th April 2001

A Norwegian company has been granted a permit to look for oil over a large area of previously unexplored deepwater in the Taranaki Basin.

The Government says it has granted a petroleum prospecting permit to Norwegian-based TGS-NOPEC Geophysical for an area around 59,000 square kilometres, in water depths ranging from 500 metres at the edge of the Taranaki shelf down to 2000 metres at the permit's westernmost point.

Associate Minister of Energy, Paul Swain, says New Zealand has come of age as a place to invest exploration dollars for the international petroleum community.

"This project is a good sign for the future of petroleum exploration in New Zealand.

"Most of the world's large oil discoveries recently have been found in deepwater ocean areas."

The Minister also says there will be a petroleum exploration bidding round over the deepwater Taranaki region in early 2002.

"Oil exploration activity in New Zealand is currently at the highest level ever with 24 wells already announced for drilling in 2001 with more wells likely.

"Oil companies, are estimated to spend approximately $130 million this year in drilling for oil and gas, with another $50 million in related exploration and development expenditure.

Mr Swain says under the prospecting permit terms, TGS-NOPEC will acquire 6800 kilometres of high quality seismic data that will assist in the definition of the structural development of the region and better define the size and nature of petroleum traps in one of New Zealand's frontier petroleum provinces.

The data will form the basis of an international marketing programme aimed at promoting the petroleum potential of the deepwater Taranaki region and the upcoming bidding round.

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