Commercial oil 'unlikely’

Press, 31 March 1980, Page 10

Commercial oil 'unlikely’

PA ', Wellington Petrocorp’s McKee well >' near Waitara is unlikely to provide corfiiTiercial quantities of oil or gas. but the information it will.'. • yield could be invaluable-. ’ The general manager ofi;y-; Petrocorp.(Mr R. J!‘Hogg)/ “ has said that / pro-;/-duction .testing was tinuing and might.? : last.’. ; some time. • v* ’ Until the analysis * of .the' .hMcKee No. 1 well I; was,- =•> complete, he could not^say?■/ where the next well in Jhe . series would be sunk.' “We have ■ a tremendous amount . of data to analyse," he said. , :• “It is very interesting and will be useful, for

exploring in Taranaki , which is not an- easy, place. to explore- bepause of the difficult terrain.” '_ ?,■ .■ - /.■ ■ ■ . Mr. . Hogg’s announcement put-a -damper bn?the ' optjrrustic - rumours-''Circu- ’ lafmgf;.in;? ; the.; Neiy; Plymoutht'area? ?- .. -i’ -. ' : D r i I'l ; n g '.statibl.cs throughout s?tfieyTjgAyprlifc /’showj that'' ' well- in 10’is-, likely to be? .commercial.? ■ Toko’;.? .' • the) 'first -.well Petrojr corp's . Taranaki explotlationf / - programme, AJ-; vprd-S f clu'ced'" «ipally ■ a.motintegas, • but Xvas riot ’ com-? mercial. •Mckee, the second well, has been more premising. Prospective hydrocarbon zones were found in two levels in the McKee well

and tests \yere done on fa; . number of sandstone -layers- in both? of these.- ? yPetrocorp hao - said' ■ .-.that there were, gas flows -i< at’ various '■ levels , and in ? the last-test, near the top •of ) the -formation, ,?con- .) ..derisate as.-well. as gas had Abeen'produced <. \ the rate - of ’ -gas flow was not- large T, and the- amount of con- - ’ densate, a very waxy light r . oil. ,was ' also Xdparatively’smali.-??<’•?; -'■/ Although., McKee was >;s<-unlikely?- tbM'prqve' ?cofn- •'• mercial, Petrocofp said the results confirmed that“this particular area of Taranaki could provide, economically recoverable reserves of gas and condensate.”. -