East Coast infoSome interesting info:
During the fourth quarter of the 2011 fiscal year, the Company continued to prepare for increased explorations operations on the East Coast Basin of New Zealand, targeting widespread fractured oil shale prospects and conventional targets at depths ranging from 250 to 3000 meters in PEP 38348, PEP 38349 and PEP 50940, which total 1.73 million acres of permitted land. Several shallow stratigraphic core wells were drilled to help further define depths and optimal drilling locations where the Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai Shale formations will be intersected. The first round of deep unconventional shale operations is scheduled to begin in late 2011 and carry into 2012.
During the 2011 fiscal year, the Company secured a land access agreement and drilled two additional shallow stratigraphic wells to approximately 250 meters in PEP 38348.
During the drilling of shallow wells in PEP 38348, potential conventional reservoirs were encountered at shallow depths of less than 250m with net pay intercepted in each well of approximately 7m (gross pay of approximately 11 meters) under high pressure and high quality light crude oil being recovered while drilling. These results will be considered 17 further and a follow-up shallow oil testing program is likely to be planned to understand the potential of this shallow reservoir.