Oil strike in Taranaki

Press, 10 September 1984, Page 1

Oil strike in Taranaki

PA New Plymouth Oil has. been found in the Toe Toe 1 exploration well near Tikorangi in Taranaki. Petrocorp (Exploration), Ltd, has announced that it has encountered encouraging shows of oil in the well. The company said the well had penetrated three metres into a target formation, from which a core sample would be cut and brought to the surface for analysis. Petrocorp said it was too early to estimate the extent

, of the oil-bearing sands and further drilling would be necessary. Toe Toe 1 is 2km from the successful McKee field and was spudded in on August 22. Target depth is 2515 m and drilling on Saturday had reached 2138 m. If Petrocorp establishes Toe Toe 1 to be an oilproducer, it will be the fifth such well in Taranaki. The company was confident Toe Toe would be an “overthrust” structure totally independent of the McKee field.

Petrocorp’s McKee well has an interim production of 2000 barrels of oil a day,i and this will grow to 5000 barrels a day when it combines with the flow from the Pouri well.

These flows will combine when the McKee production' station comes on stream later this year. The total cost of the project is $7O million. • ’ ;

Other Petrocorp exploration wells to strike oil have been Tuhua and Pukerriai.

Petrocorp is still assessing the best ways of getting ongoing production from those two wells.

The company has also encountered success with its Kaimiro well, which has been established as a gas producer.

The rig working on ToeToe 1 is drilling its last well for Petrocorp.

The company’s contract with Oil. Drilling and Exploration has ended after several years and the American-based company, Parker Drilling, will land a new rig in the region this, month to continue Petrocorp’s exploration programme.