Condensate Yield Low

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30856, 15 September 1965, Page 3

Condensate Yield Low

(N Z. Press Association} NEW PLYMOUTH, September 14.

Small quantities of condensate being separated from natural gas at the New Plymouth exploratory well were described yesterday as “really insignificant” by a spokesman for Shell, B.P. and Todd Oil Services, Ltd.

However, the well has not

yet been properly cleaned out and mud is still coming tp the surface with the gas and condensate. It is not expected that a clean and truly representative flow from the level now under test will be available until later this week.

The natural gas flare at the well site is still burning and attracting hundreds. Asked how the present signs at New Plymouth compared with the early signs at the Kapuni wells, a Wellington spokesman for the company said the amount of condensate at New Plymouth was much less than at Kapuni at the same stage and was only a minor point of interest. Good quantities of condensate had been obtained from the Kapuni wells from the beginning, he said. The consortium’s public relations officer (Mr A. M. Harvie) said the well would

be tested at higher intervals —the present test is at 12,100 ft —when a reliable and accurate measurement of the rate of flow was possible. Cylinders of gas samples have arrived in Wellington for testing by the D.S.I.R. The results should be known by the end of the week, Mr Harvie said. The transportation of liquefied gas over long distances was only practicable when large quantities were involved and the Kapuni field was not large by world standards, the Minister of Mines (Mr Shand) told Parliament today. The problem for New Zealand was deciding how Kapuni gas could best be used for her own needs. Mr E. P. Aderman (Govt., New Plymouth) had asked if, because Japan was considering a plan to import natural gas in liquefied form, Mr Shand would explore the potentialities of the Japanese market.