Each of the sand reservoirs is thought to have a potential 80 million barrels of oil in place with drilling to intercept the C sands first at a depth of around 3300 metres.

The ‘D’ Sands are expected at 3500 metres and ‘F’ Sands at 3700 metres. Total depth of the well is planned for 4200 metres.

It is expected that the ‘C’ Sands will be reached in about three weeks and operations completed a week after that.

The participants in the PEP 38460 field, which contains the Tui and Amokura oil fields as well as the Pukeko prospect were granted an extension of the permit last week encompassing the Te Whatu prospect 15 kilometres to the south of Pukeko.

In recent days, Pan Pacific raised around $1.5 million, on the back of the Amokura success, to pay for the drilling costs of Pukeko.

Partners in the well include Pan Pacific Petroleum 10% New Zealand Overseas Petroleum (operator) 45%; Stewart Petroleum Company 12.5%; AWE New Zealand 20%; and Mitsui E&P New Zealand 12.5%.