Genesis Power spokesman Allan Melhuish told the 2004 New Zealand Petroleum Conference today that the partners - including new operator Origin Energy and minority stakeholder Mitsui, hoped to start front end engineering and design studies next month, with the aim of achieving final project approval by June 2005.

Transfield Worley had now finished the pre-FEED study and narrowed the development timetable and development options.

The preferred development option was a platform in the central part of the mining licence, to tap the Kupe South structure, but with upside potential from the Leith, Stent, Derby, Marshall and Toru prospects.

The field was scheduled to deliver about 20 PJ per annum from the first half of 2007. A multi-phase pipeline or twin pipelines would take product from the unmanned platform, which would have either marine or helicopter access, to shore near Tangahoe in south Taranaki. At present a single pipeline and helicopter access was preferred.

Some onshore processing could be done by the Kupe partners or the raw petroleum stream sent to any of the nearby Rimu or Waihapa (Swift Energy owned), or Kapuni (Todd Energy) production stations,

Kupe, with 260PJ of gas and 16 million barrels of liquids (P50 level), could produce into the New Zealand market for at least 10 years and Melhuish said Origin, with its extensive experience of the BassGas Yolla project, was very well placed to ensure the Kupe development proceeded swiftly.

Also, the Fugro specialist vessel STM Markab was about to start geotechnical surveys over the proposed platform site.

Earlier in the conference BP Oil NZ managing director Peter Griffiths said that without significant gas finds New Zealand could face energy shortages by 2008.

Griffiths also said BP might import LNG into New Zealand from its Tangguh field in Indonesia, as it considered a range of second-tier markets for LNG in the Asia-Pacific region.

New Zealand's potential one million tonnes per annum demand could complement demand from South Korea.