KAPUNI OIL Company Formed To Build Pipeline

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30487, 8 July 1964, Page 3

KAPUNI OIL Company Formed To Build Pipeline

(Neto Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, July 7.

A company has been registered to construct and operate a pipeline to carry condensate from Kapuni to New Plymouth for shipment by tanker to the refinery at Marsden Point.

The company, with a capital of £lOOO, is called Shell and B.P. Pipeline Services, Ltd.

The 40-mile pipeline—one of the longest in the country—will be of six inches in diameter.

The total cost of the project, including tank storage facilities at New Plymouth and pumping requirements at Kapuni, is likely to be in the region of £750,000.

Asked whether the work orr the pipeline would start immediately, a spokesman said no firm plans could yet be made.

The wells at Kapuni were now capable of regular production, but condensate and

natural gas were produced simultaneously, he said.

Until a decision had been reached regarding the use of the gas no firm plans could be made for the transportation and refining of Taranaki oil.

Proposals for gas utilisation were made to the Government some time ago, and a report on investigations was expected soon. Earlier reports’ have suggested that the Kapuni fields will be capable of producing about 10 per cent of New Zealand crude oil requirements. This could save the country at least £1.5 million a year in exchange.