NZOG extends Barque work programme
New Zealand Oil & Gas reports that the deadline for a decision about whether to drill an exploration well in the Clipper permit, east of Oamaru is to be extended by three years.
Clipper contains the multi-tcf Barque prospect located about 60 kilometres east of Oamaru.
The Energy and Resources Minister has extended the work obligations in the permit. A well commitment decision was due to be made by 11 April 2019 and now needs to be made before 11 April 2022. Other obligations have been extended correspondingly.
The permit is operated by New Zealand Oil & Gas. Chief executive Andrew Jefferies said the Clipper joint venture is keeping a close eye on other exploration acreage in the Canterbury-Great South Basin where wells may be drilled ahead of Barque.
‘Those permits have different operators and joint ventures. Progress in those permits will influence the future of the Barque prospect. The extended work programme in Clipper will allow a re-set of the marketing campaign to attract partners to the joint venture,’ Andrew Jefferies said.
A regional economic impact study published in 2017 showed development of Barque could result in up to US$15 billion in GDP.
US$32 billion in royalties and taxes could be generated over the life of the field. In total, up to 5,740 FTE jobs could be created during construction, and around 2,000 enduring jobs in the region as the supply of clean natural gas displaces higher-carbon forms of energy and attracts new manufacturing industry. Click here to view the study: Barque Field Development Economic Impact Assessment
Barque Prospect
According to information on the NZOG web site, The Barque prospect in the Clipper permit is a very large structure estimated to contain 530 million barrels of oil equivalent (265 million barrels of oil equivalent net to New Zealand Oil & Gas at the current 50 per cent equity) (unrisked prospective resource).
Clipper is located in the Canterbury Basin, about 40 kilometres east of the South Island.
New Zealand Oil & Gas acquired a 50 per cent interest in the permit from ASX-listed Beach Energy in 2013 and took over operatorship.
Extensive 2D seismic surveys were conducted in the Canterbury Basin in the 1970s and 1980s before the only existing well in the block, Clipper-1, was drilled by BP in 1984, recovering samples of hydrocarbon gas during wireline logging from a depth of over 4000 metres.
In 2013, the joint venture completed reprocessing of 1,250 kilometres of vintage 2D seismic data, and acquired approx. 650 square kikimoras of high-quality 3D seismic data.
Interpretation of the 3D seismic data has identified three prospective formations, which combined have the potential to be the largest hydrocarbon discovery in New Zealand to date.
The Barque prospect is a large cretaceous structural trap of approx. 150 square kilometres located within the Clipper graben. Barque lies in about 800 metres of water, approximately 60 kilometres from shore. The target formations lie between 2,500 and 3,000 metres below mean sea level.
Source: Energy-pedia