Neither Swift Energy nor MRP will confirm the plugging and abandoning of the well. But the Parker Drilling Rig 246 has moved from the Tawa-B1 wellsite without doing any production testing.
Rig 246 has moved north to drill Goss-A1 - the second of three wells proposed by the consortium as part of its 2005 onshore Taranaki Tarata Thrust exploration program.
Goss-A1 will be targeting Eocene-aged Kapuni sands within the Goss prospect, which is located in the formerly prolific oil-producing Waihapa oil field in central Taranaki. Although the main producing zones at Waihapa were fractured Tikorangi limestones, former operator Fletcher Challenge Energy believed there was further production potential in deeper formations.
Swift Energy president Bruce Vincent told EnergyReview.net that the company’s third quarter earnings – due to be released this Thursday – would contain updated information on progress of the Swift Energy-MRP drilling program.
MRP upstream ventures manager John Bay declined to comment.
It is also known the Parker Drilling Rig 188 has moved from its coastal Motunui site, where it drilled the unsuccessful Terrace-1 well for Todd Energy, south to drill Trapper-A1 – the third Swift Energy-MRP Tarata Thrust well.
Last March Swift Energy and downstream electricity player MRP announced they were joining forces to explore for “deep gas” (Eocene-aged or earlier) in the onshore Tariki-Ahuroa-Waihapa-Ngaere (Tawn) fields and the more southern Rimu-Kauri fields at depths of 3000m or more.
