WAITARIA 2 EXPLORATION WELL,
PEP 38335, EAST COAST NEW ZEALAND, DRILLING AHEAD AT 2358 metres.
Pancontinental Oil & Gas NL announces that at 1800 hrs, 25 February 2001, the Waitaria 2 well was drilling ahead at 2358 metres in the Tunanui Formation.
For the interval 2140 to 2358 metres, down-hole cutting samples and drilling penetration rates indicate only a few, 1 to 2 metre thick, fine to very fine grained sandstone beds of poor quality, interbedded within tight, calcareous, siltstones.
}{Justify}}{{
{{}}Background gas levels increased up to 0.16% from 0.11% after the mud weight was reduced from 16.0 to 15.8 pounds per gallon (ppg). Chromatograph reading for methane ranged up to 875 parts per million (ppm) and ethane up to 102 ppm. No formation gas peaks or fluorescence was observed.
To date, the petrophysical interpretation of the electric logs down to a depth of 2134 metres has revealed two zones, over the gross intervals of 1402 to 1412 metres and 1887 to 1893 metres, that indicated the possible presence of hydrocarbons in sandstones with improved reservoir characteristics. The operator has recommended that these zones warrant further evaluation.
The well will be deepened to a revised total depth of 2438 metres, at which depth all possible zones of interest will be known, allowing for the design of an integrated testing program.
As reported previously, thick sandstone units with good reservoir characteristics, are known to be present in the Tunanui Formation from coastal and inland outcrop exposures. These have yet to be penetrated in this well. The deepening of the well below the original total depth of 1829 metres to 2438 metres is aimed at achieving this objective. However, it must be noted that given the distances from the well to those outcrops, estimates of the depth at which those thick sandstone units could be intersected are not precise. Biostratigraphic (fossil) information from the strata at 2284 metres still indicates an age that is immediately above that of the strata containing the thick sandstone units.
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.
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
