The Ministry of Economic Development unit says the new licence, PMP 38152, is only for three years and includes timing conditions for production, start-up, and maintenance of the small field.
Windsor was discovered five years ago, has estimated gas reserves of 0.5 bcf, and an estimated production life of only 18 months.
Westech’s current production forecast assumed initial flow rates from the Windsor-1 well of about 1.1 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, but declining at about 52% per year.
Crown Minerals said Westech proposed to feed produced gas into the nearby NGC gas export pipeline – as it did in mid-2003 for gas from its nearby Surrey field.
Company spokesperson Denny McGowan told EnergyReview.net from Denver today that while Windsor was even smaller than Surrey, Westech saw some upside potential for both fields, including additional drilling.
“We are still pretty pleased with Surrey, which has suffered only minimal depletion, and plan to continue producing from that field in the future," McGowan said.
“We plan to be producing from Windsor within one year, although we do not have contracts finalised and will have to build infrastructure to support this production. There is limited condensate associated with this gas.”
McGowan said Westech had not yet made any provisions with any company to operate the Windsor facility.
In mid-2003 Westech signed a two-year agreement with NGC for the purchase of at least 1 bcf a year of Surrey gas, while Shell NZ dealt with the over 100 bopd of condensate produced from the shallow Miocene-aged sandstones at Surrey. Windsor will produce from the same shallow sands.
McGowan added that Westech, which has been in New Zealand for about a decade, was still actively exploring and developing in the country, with some “pretty aggressive” campaigns planned for offshore and onshore Taranaki, and offshore East Coast next year.
Westech was also, together with Bridge Petroleum, involved in the small onshore Taranaki Radnor field that until recently had been supplying gas to the Methanex Waitara Valley methanol plant. They planned more development or sidetrack wells for that field.
