Oil drilling off Taranaki soon
PA Wellington A S4O million Shell-BP-Todd offshore oil exploration programme is expected to get underway in miri-September, only two weeks before the oilexploration licence in the area expires. However, the Minister of Energy (Mr Birch) is believed to have given the consortium an undertaking that the expiry of the licence will not delay lhe programme. The consortium holds a licenced area round the coast of Taranaki and after almost a year of trying to find a drilling ship, announced that it had obtained the services of Sedco’s sophisticated drill ship S-445. A She'll spokesman, Mr John Humphries, said that the S-445 was due to arrive off rhe coast in midSeptember. She was likely to begin work immediately and it is possible that she would not even need to call at the port of New Plymouth.
Mr Humphries said the ship would drill three wells. One would go down near the Maui platform, and two others north of New Plvmouth.
Mr Humphries said the consortium had experienced considerable ciitficulties in obtaining a drilling ship and as a result had run up against v lhe licence-expiration date. Approaches had been made to the Minister, who [ had indicated that the ; drilling programme would [ not be handicapped by the ; licence problem.
Government sources have confirmed that tire oil search was considered too important to be held up by formal delays. However,' they said that under rhe amended Petroleum Act it was legally impossible to extend the S'.ell-BP-Todd licence.
The act permitted one extension and the consortium had already taken this.
Shell-BP-Todd will now have to file a new application.
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Press, 15 July 1980, Page 21
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270Oil drilling off Taranaki soon Press, 15 July 1980, Page 21
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