Company chief executive Dave Bennett told EnergyReview.Net that Indo-Pacific believed it had some of the region's the best deep gas prospects within its own acreage, prospects that were likely to yield reserves of up to 300 bcf or more of gas.

"At present we are concentrating on the shallower Miocene aged Mt Messenger prospects as these wells are easier and cheaper to drill. It is also easier to raise the capital necessary for these programs.

"However, given the successful raising of exploration capital for deeper targets, it is possible we could drill up to five, certainly three wells, which would be very likely to find proven reserves of several hundred bcf."

Bennett said Swift Energy New Zealand, as operator of licence PEP 38718, was employing an under-balanced drilling technique designed to flow gas encountered during the drilling of the Tuihu-1A sidetrack well, which should optimise production flow rates in the event of a commercial discovery.

Swift Energy and its PEP 38718 partners, including Indo-Pacific, spudded Tuihu-1A last Friday and expect to take about three weeks to sidetrack and deepen, to around 5100m, the original Tuihu-1 well drilled in 2001, targeting Tariki and Eocene-aged sands. .

"The experience we will gain through Indo-Pacific's participation in Tuihu-1A should be invaluable to us in planning and operating our own deep gas drilling projects over the coming two years in other Indo-Pacific operated Taranaki permits," Bennett said.

He declined to name particular prospects or licences, but said he believed targets with Indo-Pacific's extensive onshore Taranaki acreage to be better than the deep Kaimiro and Tawn rights retained by Shell New Zealand.

Bennett also said the Wawiri-1 well - the first exploration well to use the truck-mounted South Pacific Drilling Ltd rig 1 heralded an era of cheaper drilling in New Zealand, which should result in more wells being drilled in highly prospective shallow plays.

Wawiri-1, in PEP 38753, is due to spud this weekend and is targeting a Mt Messenger oil target at a depth of around 1220-1380m.