Tap managing director Paul Underwood told EnergyReview.Net from Sydney today that his company was in the process of selecting both a manager to run its New Zealand operations and premises for the Wellington office.

"We now operate four New Zealand licences and establishing an office, having a presence there, is the next logical step in expanding our activities there."

Last month ERN predicted the Perth-based listed company was the firm behind newspaper advertisements calling for a petroleum industry manager to establish and manage its New Zealand activities, though Underwood would not confirm any transTasman expansion plans.

ERN said then that Tap Oil was the ideal candidate, with its newly-acquired offshore Canterbury Basin licence (in conjunction with AWE) and its extensive onshore Taranaki acreage, including a 30% stake in the soon-to-be-developed Kahili gas-condensate discovery.

Underwood said at the company's 2004 annual general meeting in Perth last Friday that his company was establishing an office in Wellington, though all technical, commercial and managerial functions would still be done in Perth.

Operatorship in New Zealand would enable the company to utilise the new and innovative seismic techniques being applied in Western Australia, which would give Tap "a commercial advantage" in NZ.

Tap recently assumed operatorship of onshore Taranaki licence PEP 38748 and will also operate new licence PEP 38259 in the offshore Canterbury Basin.

Underwood also said that within the next year Tap planned to participate in up to six onshore Taranaki wells targeting the shallow Miocene-aged Mount Messenger formation, with prospect sizes ranging from 1-5 million barrels of oil.

"Success here could have significant impact, with many more wells planned, based on the newly acquired 3D seismic data," he said referring to seismic shot over several small licences around the Kaimata area earlier this year.

However, Tap's plans have got off to a bad start, with the first well, Wawiri-1 in PEP 38753 being plugged and abandoned earlier this month. The South Pacific Drilling Rig 1 is now drilling the second, Bluff-1, in nearby PEP 38746.