AMG Oil Ltd., Calgary, said Friday it's teaming up with Orion Exploration Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the New Zealand-based energy distributor and technology investment company Orion Group, to gain strategic expertise and additional funding for its Canterbury basin project.
Orion Exploration will earn a 10% interest in the Canterbury basin project by reimbursing AMG for a portion of past exploration costs, and by contributing 20% to the cost of drilling both the Ealing-1 and Arcadia-1 wells.
Drilling of the Ealing-1 well is set to begin Oct. 16, and to be immediately followed by the Arcadia-1 well (OGJ Online, Sept. 25, 2000). Both Ealing-1 and Arcadia-1 exploration wells are expected to take 3 weeks to drill to their target depths of 6,000 ft.
Following completion of funding obligations by Orion and AMG on the Ealing-1 and Arcadia-1 wells, AMG Oil Ltd. will hold a 70% interest in the area. Indo-Pacific Energy Ltd. will hold 20%.
The Orion Group is also a partner with Denver-based Westech Energy in exploring New Zealand's onshore East Coast basin, where the Westech-Orion joint venture has made three gas discoveries.
