The Parker Drilling 188 rig reached a total depth of 4064m along hole, short of the original target depth of 4158m along hole, within the Eocene-aged Mangahewa formation in mid-March.

Operator Shell Todd Oil Services later released the rig and handed the well site over to the Kapuni production station.

However, none of STOS, Shell or Todd has yet released any test results from the drilling operation, though electric logging for formation pressure, resistivity, density and porosity, has been done; as well as the setting of two cement plugs at 3740-4064m and 1260-1695m.

Todd chief executive Richard Tweedie told EnergyReview.Net that well data was still being analysed and reviewed and he did not expect to release more information until that process had been completed.

Kapuni-16 was drilled to appraise and develop the productive K1 reservoirs on the eastern flank of the field and had been located on the basis of the interpretation of 3D seismic. Last October Tweedie said that, if successful, Kapuni-16 could add "substantial", unspecified new gas-condensate reserves.

The Parker Drilling 188 is expected to soon be moved to the Ngarewa-1 well site, also within the Kapuni mining licence, rigged up and then to drill an exploration well targeting an amplitude anomaly in the shallow Miocene-aged Mt Messenger sandstones immediately southeast of the deeper producing Kapuni formation.

Tweedie has also said the seismic anomaly is believed to represent an oil (or gas) bearing zone around the 1800m depth and, if successful, the well could discover up to 11 million barrels of new oil reserves.