STOS is to drill the deviated well, for PEP 38737 partners Shell Petroleum Mining and Todd Petroleum Mining, up to 1.5km off the coast from an inland site in adjacent licence PEP 38760.

STOS, which is also acting as operator for Todd Petroleum in its newly granted PEP 38760 licence, plans to drill a conventional well from the same wellsite in the 38760 licence, which Todd alone was awarded last month without its long-time exploration partner Shell.

Australian firm Western Geco shot about 120km of 2D inshore seismic, which ran up to 10km off the small coastal town of Patea, early this year in preparation for the drilling program.

Shell and Todd swooped on this offshore acreage after former permit holder Fletcher Challenge Energy relinquished the area about two years ago without even drilling a well into the highly prospective Kaheru structure.

Both the 38737 and 760 licences are on-trend with or adjacent to the highly on the eastern margin trend, the prospectivity of which has been established by the more northerly onshore Rimu and Kauri discoveries, and further enhanced by the results of the recently drilled and suspended Makino-1 well.