Wellington-headquartered Austral today said Crown Minerals had granted PMP 38153 to Austral Pacific (which holds 45% equity in the permit), Tap Oil (30%) and IRM (25%), effective from last Wednesday, September 1.
The small (6 sqkm) mining permit covers the mapped extent of the Kahili gas-condensate field, which is part of the larger (29.9 sqkm) exploration permit PEP 38736, and the only production well, Kahili-1B, is presently flowing approximately 3.5 million cubic feet of gas and 100 barrels of condensate per day.
Austral exploration manager Dave Bennett said the partners believed there was further discovery potential, which would be addressed with seismic acquisition in the near future. A decision regarding the drilling of a Kahili-2 production well would be made after several months of production from Kahili-1B.
Also, as reported by EnergyReview.Net earlier this week, Austral Pacific has been awarded a small (69 sqkm) offshore licence, PEP 38492, between the south Taranaki coastline and the Kupe mining licence PML 38146.
Bennett said the onshore Kapuni field, which had already produced over 1 tcf of gas, was a short distance further north, while the 1990 Toru-1 discovery was about 2km south of PEP 38492. Toru-1 was flow-tested on a 1/2" choke at a rate of 11.7 million cubic feet per day of gas and 842 barrels of condensate.
“All of the Kapuni, Kupe South and Toru fields produce hydrocarbons from traps situated on a deep arch which runs from south to north passing beneath PEP 38492. A potential trap on this arch, the Hawera Lead, has been previously identified, but requires confirmation that it closes in the vicinity of the coastline.
“Over the next two years, Austral Pacific will remap the existing seismic and acquire a minimum of 15 km of new seismic in order to verify the trap. Should this be established, a well will be drilled to test this target.
“A discovery could be readily tied to the Kapuni production station, and hence into the national pipeline grid, in a manner similar to that of the company's Kahili field,” Bennett concluded.
