22nd Jul 2014 09:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kea Petroleum PLC Tuesday said that drilling has started at its Puka-3 well on the PEP51153 licence, located onshore in Taranaki in New Zealand.
The New Zealand-focused oil and gas company said the well is targeting Mt Messenger formation sands at roughly 1,580 metres in depth, which were seen in its recent 50 square kilometre seismic survey of the western part of PEP51153.
Drilling will be completed using the Drill Force New Zealand Ltd's Rig 6, after Drill Force was assigned the rig contract for the site during June.
The drilling of Puka-3, from the same well pad as the producing Puka-1 and Puka-2 wells, is an important component of its farm-out agreement with MEO New Zealand Pty Ltd, which is intended to boost existing production and assist future field appraisal for Kea Petroleum.
The company said in early June that it had completed the workover part of its farm out agreement at the site, and that all of the funding necessary for the phase 1 process had been received and the Puka-2 well was back in production following a workover.
In April, Kea said it had agreed to a NZD14 million staged work programme on site to boost production and further appraise the Puka discovery.
"We have eagerly been awaiting the drilling of the Puka 3 appraisal well. The results will help us to gain a better understanding of the resource size and deliverability, to enable us to plan for further commercial development," Chairman Ian Gowrie-Smith said in a statement.
Kea Petroleum shares were up 12.7% to 2.09 pence, putting it in the top three AIM All-Share risers on Tuesday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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