Latest Block Offer Attracts New Entrants
Latest Block Offer Attracts New Entrants
By Neil Ritchie
The Government has awarded 10 new offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration blocks to several established domestic players and three new entrants to the New Zealand energy scene, most notably Australian major Woodside Petroleum and Norwegian giant Statoil.
The National-led government must be thrilled to have attracted such multinational players as Woodside -- Australia’s largest independent oil and gas company – and Statoil -- the Norwegian-government controlled major and the world's 11th largest oil and gas company.
The entry of the two new majors is also further proof that New Zealand is now firmly back on the international oil and gas industry’s “exploration radar” and that the country’s possibly huge petroleum potential is worthy of investigation.
Statoil has been awarded a new offshore Northland-Cape Reinga permit, while Woodside and New Zealand Oil & Gas win a new offshore Taranaki Basin permit and one straddling the adjacent Great South and Offshore Canterbury Basins. NZOG, this country’s largest listed oil and gas company, has won another Great South Basin-Offshore Canterbury block on its own.
Singapore’s Mont D’Or Petroleum is the other new entrant and has been awarded a new onshore East Coast Basin permit.
Australian listed junior Octanex has been awarded one offshore Taranaki licence; Canadian listed junior TAG Oil has won yet another onshore Taranaki licence; fellow Canadian junior Eastern Petroleum and TAG subsidiary East West Petroleum have been awarded an onshore East Coast permit; and Greymouth Petroleum subsidiary Petrochem has been awarded one onshore Taranaki permit.
And, in a surprise move, offshore Taranaki Tui oil field operator Australia’s AWE and recently departed Tui partner Japan’s Mitsui have joined forces and moved onshore. They have been awarded one onshore Taranaki permit.
Mitsui marked its almost complete withdrawal from New Zealand by selling its 35 per cent stake in the offshore Taranaki Tui oil field in early October to AWE, fellow listed Aussie Pan Pacific Petroleum and NZOG. Again, in a show of confidence, AWE and Mitsui have decided onshore Taranaki is now worth exploring – their first such move onshore.
However, there are some notable absences – Todd Energy, Maari oil field Austrian giant OMV and Kupe gas field operator Aussie major Origin Energy.
Todd, the country’s largest integrated energy company, is busy enough with its $800 million onshore Taranaki Mangahewa Expansion Project plus its contributions to two exploration wells next year in the offshore Maui gas field.
OMV is also busy with its Maari exploration-development programme, plus some other offshore exploration wells, while Origin is a joint partner with US major Anadarko Petroleum is one, perhaps two, deepwater wildcat wells offshore Canterbury due to drilling next year.
Collectively the new permits represent approximately $62 million in committed expenditure on initial exploration which, if successful, could lead to further exploration work worth up to $720 million. All licences are for the usual initial term of five years.
Woodside is Australia’s largest independent oil and gas company. It operates six of the seven liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing trains in Australia and also operates four oil floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Exmouth Basin, North West Shelf and Timor Sea. Woodside’s international assets include deepwater production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico plus acreage in the US Brazil, Peru, Republic of Korea and the Canary Islands.
Statoil is a true multinational integrated petroleum company with operations in 36 countries. It is headquartered in Stavanger and is ranked by Forbes Magazine (2013) as the world's 11th largest oil and gas company and the 26th largest company in the world. The Norwegian government is Statoil’s largest shareholder, controlling about 67 per cent of the shares, while the rest is public stock. The government interest is managed by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
“Block Offer 2013 attracted three new international companies to explore here, as well as expanded interest from companies already operating in New Zealand,” says Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges.
“The results show New Zealand is firmly on the map as a key destination for investors in oil and gas exploration. The award of exploration permits today is another important step toward unlocking New Zealand’s oil and gas potential, both on and offshore,” adds the minister.
For more Info: