brucesterfer Read below : Todd hangs on to best of Taranaki...

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Read below :

Todd hangs on to best of Taranaki asset

Friday, 28 August 2009
Neil Ritchie, New Zealand

TODD Energy has surrendered the large offshore Taranaki, New Zealand, licence PEP 38494 but retained the most prospective parts as an extension to its recently awarded PEP 51313.

The government’s Crown Minerals Group awarded Todd an 820-square-kilometre extension to PEP 51313 immediately below the commercial Maari oil field mining licence (PMP 38160) and the original Maari exploration permit (PEP 38413), both operated by Austrian giant OMV.

The extension includes the Matariki prospect, which is believed to hold about 100 million barrels of recoverable crude oil, plus the promising Paua and Pike prospects.

“Todd has extended 51313 over that portion of 38494 that it sees as most prospective because of geological linkages and similarities in play and prospect types,” Todd Energy managing director Richard Tweedie told PetroleumNews.net from Wellington yesterday.

“Todd’s evaluation has shown there to be several play types that are common to the 51313 and 38494 areas, including the Moki, Mangahewa and Cretaceous. A number of prospects and leads have resulted from this detailed analysis, with Matariki being just one.”

Tweedie said that having one permit created “meaningful synergies and efficiencies” in Todd’s ongoing work program, including a 200sq.km 3D seismic survey in early 2010, a 600km 2D survey in 2011 and potential drilling thereafter.

“The end result will provide Todd Energy with a more comprehensive understanding of the area’s hydrocarbon potential,” he added.

Three years ago, Tweedie described Matariki – a four-way dip closure with exploration objectives identified at several levels – as a Maari lookalike and one of the company’s top exploration priorities.

And a year ago, Australia-listed juniors and Maari partners Horizon Oil and Cue Energy Resources took respective 25% and 20% stakes in PEP 38494, with the aim of drilling the Matariki-1 wildcat well during 2009 and evaluating Pike and Paua as potential drilling targets.

However, earlier this year Tweedie said Todd Energy had deferred the drilling of Matariki-1 indefinitely and it had now relinquished PEP 38494.

The Ministry of Economic Development unit has Todd Energy as 100% owner of the enlarged PEP 51313 includes the Matariki prospect , covering an area of 2595sq.km, meaning that Horizon and Cue have decided against joining Todd in the new licence, called Te Whatu.


.....anyone knows what " Te Whatu " means ?