WAITARIA 2 EXPLORATION WELL,
PEP 38335, EAST COAST NEW ZEALAND,
PREPARING TO RUN CASING AT 534 METRES.
Pancontinental Oil & Gas NL is please to announce that at 6am (NZST) 1 February 2001, the Waitaria 2 exploration well had reached a depth of 534 metres and was preparing to run 344mm casing.
While drilling down to 534 meters, background gas levels have risen slowly, ranging from 0.12% to 0.62%, with C1 values up to 5827ppm, C2 up to 250ppm and C3 up to 164ppm below a depth of 380 meters. Mud weights have been increased to 13.5 ppg. These gas and chromatograph readings are consistent with those encountered in the Waitaria 1 well with comparable mud weights.
On completion of the current casing operation, the well will be drilled to a depth of 1372 metres where 247mm casing will be run and cemented.
The Waitaria 2 well will be drilled to a total depth of 1829 metres, and is located next to the 1997 Waitaria 1 well. Waitaria 1 failed to reach the objective Mid-Miocene Tunanui sandstone due to mechanical problems associated with abnormal pressure. These problems are being addressed in the Waitaria 2 well with more robust casing and mud programs.
Pancontinental Oil and Gas NL announced previously that it had reached agreement with Westech Energy New Zealand to earn a 7.5% equity in PEP 38335, East Coast Basin of the North Island of New Zealand, by contributing 10.0% of the US $1.327 million drilling costs of the Waitaria 2 well. Pancontinental will only contribute 7.5% to additional drilling, completion and testing costs. This agreement is still subject to final Government approval.
The Waitaria prospect has been delineated by a close grid of modern 2D seismic data. The prospect has been mapped by the operator to have 4 way dip closure over an area of 6 square kilometres and vertical closure of 700 metres at a level immediately above the primary Mid-Miocene age Tunanui sandstone target reservoir.
The operator has estimated that the potential recoverable reserves of the Waitaria prospect are 88 million barrels oil or 360 billion cubic feet gas.
PEP 38335 covers an area of 409 square kilometres and incorporates the regional city of Gisborne. Approximately 50 kilometres to the south-west, in the Westech operated PEP 38329 permit, are the late 1998 Kauhauroa and Awatare gas discoveries, adjacent to the town of Wairoa. The Kauhauroa and Awatare gas discoveries are in Miocene reservoirs and recorded test gas flows of up to 11.5 million cubic feet per day.
Participating interests in PEP 38335 (after earning) are :-
| Pancontinental Oil and Gas NL | 7.5% |
| Westech Energy New Zealand | 27.5% (Operator) |
| Orion Exploration Ltd | 27.5% |
| Indo-Pacific Energy (NZ) Ltd | 25.0% |
| Sun Resources NL | 7.5% |
| Everest Energy Inc | 5.0% |
Enquiries:
Andrew Svalbe
Tel: 08 9227 7178
Fax: 08 9227 9079
Email: svalbe@pancon.com.au
