No Extra Well At Kapuni Planned

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30831, 17 August 1965, Page 16

No Extra Well At Kapuni Planned

fN Z Press Association)

NEW PLYMOUTH, Aug. 18 Shell, B.P. and Todd Oil Services, Ltd. had no plans for drilling another well on the Kapuni gas structure and at the moment did not con sider such a well necessary, a company spokesman said in Wellington today He was commenting on a statement in the second report on the use of Kapuni natural gas. tabled in Parliament last week.

The report, submitted by Zinder International, Ltd.’s project director, Mr J. G. Shattuck, referred to a belief that there was evidence the structure was divided. This was the principal reason the consultants on the petroleum reserves of the Kapuni field gave a lower estimate of the reserves than Shell. B.P. and Todd, the report said. Degolyer and MacNaughton Inc. considered only about 60 per cent as much of the Kapuni structure contained proved reserves as the gas owners believed.

“It is Gegolyer and MacNaughton’s belief there is evi-

dence that the structure is divided. Since no wells have been drilled in the east part of the structure to indicate whether gas is present or not they do not estimate any reserves for ’hat part,” says Mr Shattuck’s report.

Until at least one well was drilled in the other part of the field, it could not be assumed for the purposes of planning and design that the proved reserves were greater than estimated by Degolyer and MacNaughton. “It is hoped that an ex Dioratory well will be drilled in the questioned portion of the structure before pipeline sizes and other engineering plans are finally determined, since a plan developed to use the gas for 416,000,000,000 cubic feet of recoverable reserves would be less than perfect for the utilisation of a larger amount of gas from larger reserves such as *190.000,000.000 cubic feet. “Ou- appraisal of the econ omics of the utilisation of the gas would change materially if the additional reserves were proved,” the report