New Zealand exploration to accelerate

New Zealand aims to be 75% self-sufficient in liquid fuels by 2005 and to be totally self-reliant and a net exporter of liquid fuels before 2010. Minister of Energy Max Bradford believes the targets are achievable, given the current increasing exploration activity in the country. An official who read Bradford's speech at the 1998 New Zealand petroleum conference in Queenstown last month said the figures equated to the discovery of only moderate-size fields in any one of the eight

May 4, 1998

2 min read

An official who read Bradford's speech at the 1998 New Zealand petroleum conference in Queenstown last month said the figures equated to the discovery of only moderate-size fields in any one of the eight sedimentary basins now the subject of seismic and drilling programs.

Oil and gas production now accounts for about 60% of New Zealand's primary energy supply. The country is still, however, only 41% self-sufficient in liquid fuels, and 66% of its liquids production comes from Maui field off Taranaki.

Maui also accounts for about 70% of the country's natural gas production.

Exploration plans

Bradford believes exploration activity is now reaching the threshold levels necessary for achieving the self-sufficiency goals.

He noted that, in 1996, explorers submitted work programs involving expenditures of $170 million for the following 5 years. This included the acquisition of 5,460 km of seismic, the reprocessing of another 4,700 km of existing seismic data, and the drilling of as many as 25 exploration wells.

Much of this seismic commitment has been fulfilled already or is in the process of being acquired. What's more, the dollar commitment to overall exploration made in 1996 is nearly double the predicted level, with more than $300 million now earmarked for a similar timeframe, according to Bradford.

Much of the additional programming has come through the Acceptable Frontier Offer program. Since becoming fully operational as the main permitting mode in New Zealand late in 1996, 26 permits over and above those granted via block offers have been issued. Another five applications are being processed.

Much of new interest is being shown in areas outside the Taranaki region-a factor that bodes well for the chance of significant new discoveries and the hoped-for lift in the country's level of petroleum self-sufficiency.