Horizon Oil - Oil and Gas Exploration Production
Activities Operations
New Zealand
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New Zealand Activities Operations
PMP 38160 – Maari field (10.00%)
Background:
The Maari development, operated by OMV (New Zealand) Ltd, is located in PMP 38160 some 80 km offshore Taranaki, New Zealand in 102 m of water. The field, in which Horizon Oil has a 10% interest, holds proven and probable reserves in excess of 50 million barrels of oil.
Horizon Oil acquired a 10% interest in this field in January 2003 and participated in the drilling of the Maari 2 appraisal well. The Maari-2 well successfully appraised the central part of the field and led to commencement of the field development planning process.
In November 2005, the operator of the Maari joint venture, OMV New Zealand Limited, advised the go ahead of the development of Maari field. The development concept involves an unmanned wellhead platform housing the wellheads of the 5 production and 3 injection wells, linked via subsea flowlines to the floating production, storage and offloading vessel (‘FPSO’) Raroa, anchored 1.5 km away.
On 7 December 2005 it was announced that the New Zealand Government’s Ministry of Economic Development had granted Petroleum Mining Permit (‘PMP’) 38160 for the field, covering an area of 34 sq km. The PMP grants the joint ventures’ the rights to conduct production operations for a period of 22 years, reflecting the long life predicted for production from the main zone at Maari, as well as from shallower and deeper zones which have not yet been fully appraised.
Current status of activities:
Further good progress has been made on the Maari Oil Field development
since the last drilling update provided to shareholders on 24 November
2008. In that update it was reported that ten 30” stove-pipes had been
successfully installed in the seabed below the platform base.
The next phase of the Maari well construction program, which involved
the installation of 24” conductor casings in 9 well slots to a depth of
260 m, is now complete. This provides for 5 oil production wells, 3
water injection wells and one spare location. This phase was completed
ahead of schedule.
The Ensco 107 jack-up rig is now preparing to drill the first 3 production
wells. This will involve the batch drilling of 3 surface holes in 16” casing to
a depth of about 900 m. After that each well will be drilled to programmed
total depth, equipped for production and turned to the FPSO.
The Maari Oil Field is located in PMP 38160, in the offshore Taranaki basin,
New Zealand. First oil is expected around mid February 2009, when the
first oil development well is expected to be completed. Oil production will
ramp up towards the expected initial gross rate of 35,000 barrels of oil
as the development wells are progressively drilled.
The participants in the development are:-
Horizon Oil International Limited
(a wholly owned subsidiary of Horizon Oil Limited) 10%
OMV New Zealand Limited 69%
Todd Maari Limited 16%
Cue Taranaki Pty Ltd 5%
PEP 38413 - Manaia (10.00%)
The Manaia structure is located in PEP 38413 and lies adjacent to PMP 38160 (Maari), some 80 km offshore Taranaki, New Zealand. The field, in which Horizon Oil holds a 10.00% interest, is expected to hold 1 – 2 mmbo in net resources, subject to appraisal.
Along with its Maari co-venturers and in conjunction with the PMP application for the Maari field made in 2005, the joint venture applied for an Appraisal Extension over the Manaia structure. This extension was granted by the Ministry of Economic Development, and subject to satisfactory appraisal (which will be carried out immediately following the Maari development drilling) these resources will be produced through the Maari facilities.
PEP 38494 - Matariki (25.00%)
Horizon Oil acquired a 25.00% interest in PEP 38494 via a farm-in agreement with the operator, Todd Exploration. Horizon Oil will earn its 25.00% interest by funding 37.50% of the costs of drilling the Matariki-1 exploration well, expected to be in the second half of 2009.
PEP 38494 is located 50 km offshore Taranaki, New Zealand in 70-100 m of water and has the potential to contain approximately 100 mmbo in recoverable resources. Participation in the permit provides Horizon with the opportunity to build on its current involvement in the Maari field. Exploration of the adjacent acreage has clear technical, commercial and operation synergies with the current field development.