The ODE 19 rig will take about 16 days to drill to a target depth of 2,600 metres to test targets in the Urenui Formation channel sand and Moki sandstone defined by the Kaimata 3D seismic survey.

Tap holds a 50% interest in the well, along with Tag Oil (NZ) Ltd (20%) and Supplejack-1’s operator Austral-Pacific Energy (NZ) Ltd (30%).

Supplejack-1 is located in PEP 38471 in the highly prospective Taranaki Basin where reserves of 455 million barrels of oil and condensate and seven trillion cubic feet of gas have been discovered to date.

But despite the prospectivity the basin remains a relatively under-explored region, especially when compared with Western Australia’s Carnarvon Basin, which is responsible for about 98% of Tap’s production.

The next target in Tap’s onshore Taranaki program is expected to be the Tap-operated Takahe-1, which is planned for early August, followed by Richmond-1. Those two wells will complete Tap’s onshore Taranaki program for 2005.

According to its March quarterly, Tap had oil production of 405,000 bbls at a price of $66 a barrel. It also reported strong gas sales from the Harriet Area.

Besides the Taranki Basin, Tap also has an interest in the offshore Canterbury Basin.

New Zealand, with its looming shortage of gas, offers good opportunities, according to Tap.

The company hopes to be able to quickly generate cashflow from any of its NZ gas discoveries.