A 40km “Terrace 2D” seismic survey is about to start over a strip of coastal land between Bell Block and Waitara and extending up to 6km offshore. The offshore work will be in the southern part of the recently-awarded Pohokura petroleum mining permit, for partners Shell NZ, OMV NZ and Todd Pohokura.

The onshore section could be over the northern parts of four licences _ PEP 38744 (Tap Oil (operator), OMV and Todd); PEP 38742 (Ballance Agri-Nutrients); PEP 38762 (Greymouth Petroleum) and PEP 38746 (Austral Pacific (operator), Tap and Magellan). This is probably “overlap” seismic to ensure good coverage of near-shore Pohokura acreage.

The survey is scheduled to tomorrow, December 1 and conclude about December 17, depending on weather conditions.

STOS has confirmed the survey is not associated with preliminary work for the four development wells (three production and one water disposal) that Oil Drilling & Exploration (Borneo) Pty (ODE) is scheduled to start early next year using a specially imported rig from Indonesia. The purpose of the survey is exploration for new hydrocarbons.

The WesternGeco crew 1150 is carrying out both parts of the survey as one integrated project, with three to five vibroseis truck units onshore and the Jolly Roger (source) and the Rabitour and Kopere (cable vessels) used offshore.

Commentators recently told EnergyReview.Net it was likely there was more potential for further hydrocarbons to be found in the onshore/near-shore part of the Pohokura prospect than indicated by the “unsuccessful” Pohokura South-1. That well was plugged and abandoned in mid-2001, though it did encounter some gas saturations and was not completely water-bearing.