BP Efforts Related To Kapuni Price

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31349, 20 April 1967, Page 1

BP Efforts Related To Kapuni Price

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

LONDON, April 19.

Until negotiations with the Government over the sale of Kapuni gas are resolved there is little incentive to explore further in New Zealand, says the annual report of British Petroleum.

The company says seismic and field geological studies continued last year on “a moderate scale.” These included the reconnaissance of off-shore areas. The report shows that the output of the Whangarei refinery of the New Zealand Refining Company, in which BP has a 15 per cent shareholding, rose from 2.3 million

tons to more than 2.5 million tons.

In WeUington, the Minister of Mines (Mr Shand) said in a statement that he had every reason for confidence that the Kapuni negotiations were almost at an end.

“The Government has offered to the consortium a contract for the purchase of gas from the field,” he said. “Last week the consortium tabled a counter-offer and as a result of almost continuous negotiation since the tabling of the counter-offer, the margin of disagreement between the parties is such that I have every confidence it can be resolved very shortly,” Mr Shand said. “All Taken”

The Minister also commented that all the off-shore areas of New Zealand * considered worthy of early prospecting bad been taken up—and without exception the contractors bad met their obligations under their licences by undertaking a programme of exploration. He said neither he nor his department had any complaints to make concerning the present rate of exploratory work by the partners in Kapuni—but added that they had many times in the course of negotiations about Kapuni gas, been at pains to point out that the return which they were able to obtain on their investment in this field would inevitably affect the amount of finance they had available for further exploration.