The Wellington-headquartered company last night said that following the previous short flow test of the Cheal-1 well, in licence PEP 38738, analysis of the well revealed very good pressure maintenance in the reservoir, with a "considerable" oil column now situated within the tubing while the well was shut-in. No formation water had been detected.
"The longer-term production test, slated to commence in September, is expected to confirm field commerciality," said company chief executive Dave Bennett.
Indo-Pacific also confirmed its participation in the Tuihu-1A re-entry program, following the June announcement that it was to acquire Horizon Oil's equity in four onshore Taranaki exploration assets - PEP 38716 (28.34%), PEP 38718 (10%), PEP 38728 (48%), PEP 38738 (23.75%) - for a total of $US575,000.
Bennett said the big Parker Drilling 246 rig was due to be mobilised to the Tuihu-1 well site in PEP 38718 within the next week or so and that the re-entry project should be expected within a month.
The original Tuihu-1 well was drilled to a depth of 4530m during early 2001, with high gas levels being recorded in fractured sands, and suspended pending further evaluation. Swift Energy New Zealand took over from Shell as operator last year and subsequently proposed a sidetrack and deepening of the well to around 5000m to test the deeper Tariki and Kapuni targets and the 'shows' observed in the fractured sands intersected at the base of the well.
Bennett said Shell had remapped the Tuihu structure and found it to be of similar size and type to the nearby Mangahewa gas-condensate field. Tuihu-1A was also situated only 5km east of Indo-Pacific's Kahili field, which the company expects to bring into commercial production early next year.
If Tuihu-1A proved to be a commercial discovery, Swift Energy planned to link Tuihu southwards into its Tawn oil-gas-condensate treatment facilities and pipeline system.
Bennett also said South Pacific Drilling had been awarded the rig contract to drill the Waiwiri-1 (PEP 38753) and Bluff-1 (PEP 38746) wells, with site preparations due to start shortly for drilling in September-October.
