Partners in the offshore Taranaki Tui oil field disclosed Tuesday that they have approved plans to drill the Pateke-4H infill development well and the Oi exploration well on the offshore PMP 38158 permit, after having successfully negotiated for the use of the semi-submersible, Kan Tan IV.
Pateke-4H targets a newly mapped northern extension of the Pateke North field that is not being accessed by the current producing well, Parteke-3. Pan Pacific Petroleum (PPP), one of the partners in the joint venture, estimated that Pateke-4H has the potential to recover an additional two to four million barrels of oil from the Pateke field.
Pateke-4H will be drilled to a total depth of 22,638 feet (6,900 meters) and will include a 8,202-foot (2,500-meter) horizontal section.
PPP also noted that the Oi prospect is a 4-way dip closure created by drape over an underlying basement high, similar to the structures at the Tui, Amokura and Pateke fields. The Oi exploration well, like Pateke-4H, will also target the same producing reservoir level.
PPP stated that the Oi structure could contain a mean recoverable resource of up to 15 million barrels of oil. As Oi is sited only eight miles to the northeast of the Tui field FPSO, the well can be immediately tied-in and move into the production phase in the event of a commercial discovery. Oi, to be sited 394 feet (120 meters) below waters, will be drilled to 10,499 feet (3,200 meters).
New Zealand's first stand-alone offshore oil development is the Tui Area Oil Project, consisting of three fields, Tui, Amokura and Pateke, connected to the Umuroa FPSO.
