PEP 3716 operator Marabella Enterprises, a subsidiary of Sydney-based Bligh Oil and Minerals, said today that no oil had yet been recovered from the Murihiku formation, which continued to be swabbed to promote hydrocarbon flows. Analysis of the recovered fluid and gas indicated that the Huinga-1B well was producing some formation water.

Fellow partner Indo-Pacific Energy believes there should be a way to get oil to flow again, as happened during the drilling of the sidetrack well, when waxy crude covered the shakers during logging operations.

"We really do not know what is flowing and from where; we are as puzzled as hell," said Indo-Pacific chief executive Dave Bennett from Wellington.

"We know this well can produce oil from the Murihiku, as we have had oil on the shakers. We are definitely puzzled as to where it's gone to, but we have no electric log information over that interval and a poor cement job in parts.

"It's too early to say what we are likely to do, other than to probably leave the well shut in for some weeks until we have decided what next."

Marabella said the partners were considering how to reconnect the well to the fractured Murihiku that yielded significant quantities of crude oil into the mud during drilling. Over 28,000 barrels of drilling fluid was lost during drilling, much of it into the Murihiku.

Last week the partners gave up, albeit temporarily, on the lower Kapuni formation to move up the well bore to test the Murihiku formation.

Huinga-1B has provided further confirmation of the prospectivity of the onshore central thrust trend, initially established by the Rimu and Kauri discoveries, and further enhanced by the results of the Makino-1.