Penrod may drill more N.Z. wells

Press, 24 October 1978, Page 19

Penrod may drill more N.Z. wells

PA Invercargill The Penrod '74 oil rig may drill more wells off the NewZealand coast after it has completed the North Tasman No. 1 well for the French Government Corporation Aquitaine, and its partners, according to the Hunt International Petroleum Company. A recent announcement that the Penrod rig would drill the well in an area just south of the Maui 4 well in the North Tasman ended speculation that the rig would return to Singapore Immediately. It is now being towed up the West Coast by its two ocean-going support vessels Grizzly Bear and Polar Bear and is expected to arrive at the North Tasman site soon. The Hunt International Petroleum Company of New Zealand is having talks with, Aquitaine and Shell-BP-Todd, officials about the possibility)

of additional wells, says a spokesman. “We worked very hard to get this job so that we could keep a good on-going operation,” Hunt’s resident manager (Mr J. Tatum) said on Saturday. “We hope it is not the end.” A lot depended on what the Government did about taxation. He said the severity of tax stopped the Americans from further financial involvement in drilling in the Great South Basin.