The Hoki-1 oil well in deep water off the Taranaki coast has drawn a blank, with participants New Zealand Oil&Gas reporting that no significant hydrocarbon indications were intersected at the well.The well, drilled by the Kan Tan IV rig in 330m of wat
The Hoki-1 oil well in deep water off the Taranaki coast has drawn a blank, with participants New Zealand Oil&Gas reporting that no significant hydrocarbon indications were intersected at the well.
The well, drilled by the Kan Tan IV rig in 330m of water about 135km west of New Plymouth, is expected to have cost around $50 million.
As a wildcat well, failure to find oil was the most likely outcome, but hopes had been held of a major discovery.
Company New Zealand Oil&Gas, which has a 10 percent stake in the permit, said the well reached a depth of 3700m and wireline logging was under way.
After the logging programme, Hoki-1 would be plugged and abandoned and the rig would move to drill at least two wells in the area around the existing Tui oil fields where NZOG is a 12.5 percent partner.
