New Zealand

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 31 – TAG Oil Ltd., Vancouver, BC, said its first stratigraphic test at Waitangi Hill in New Zealand’s northern East Coast basin went to a TD of 179 m, found free oil in cores, and proved the existence of an active light oil and gas generating system.

The Waitangi Hill-2 well, on a 530,000-acre permit held by TAG, sustained a strong “oil-wet” gas kick and undisclosed pressure at 149 m. Drilling continued to 171 m, where the well encountered a conventional sandstone reservoir and recovered a core with streaming free oil.

Depth of the underlying fractured Waipawa black shale and Whangai shale source rock formations is about 5,000 m.