Greymouth Petroleum Confirms Significant Gas Find In Taranaki

Tuesday, 10 December 2024, 5:13 pm
Article: RNZ

Gyles Beckford, Business Editor

• Greymouth Petroleum finds "significant" gas in Turangi field
• Company says gas flows are material and will add to reserves
• Greymouth calls on government not to mess up regulatory settings
• Company wants banks backs to finance exploration
• Company ready to go drilling for geothermal energy supplies

One of the country's biggest oil and gas producers says it has had a significant gas find in Taranaki.

Privately owned Greymouth Petroleum said the find was in the northern Taranaki onshore field, Turangi, with strong gas flows and oil condensate.

"This is significant with virgin pressures encountered and flow rates exceeding comparable gas and hydrocarbon flow rates achieved in the early years of the concession. It bodes well for ongoing regional drilling activity," the company said in a statement.

"With the ... well flow, Greymouth can make increased gas volumes available to the market, enhancing security of supply."

It said it planned to drill wells through 2025 with a number of "high impact" prospects planned.

Greymouth supplies about 20 percent of the gas market and has the biggest gas reserves, about 35 percent of known reserves.

The Turangi field find was the second made public in a week, after the NZ Energy Corp announced a find in the Tariki field last week.

Nerves about rule changes

Greymouth Petroleum also sent a warning to the government to get rules for the sector correct and to ensure consultation.

A last minute proposed amendment to legislation to reduce the risk of a government having to pick up the cost of cleaning and winding up a depleted oil and gas field has rattled the industry.

Greymouth said it wanted consultation before any changes and did not want the rush to pass fast-track legislation to get in the way.

"Amendments must not be compromised by the Government's 90-day legislative plan - rather amendments must be well considered and determined following a consultative process."

It said, in particular, it wanted to know how liability would be determined, and did not want any backdating of liability either.

"The petroleum mining sector has had enough to deal with given the law changes made by the last two Labour Government regimes which brought Sovereign Risk to the sector and sent international petroleum companies packing," it said.

The Crown has been stuck with a $443 million potential bill to decommission the Tui Oil Field after the company supposed to do it collapsed.

NZ needs gas

Greymouth Petroleum said the country needed gas as a bridging fuel to new technologies, and without it industries would "wither on the vine".

"New Zealand has abundant indigenous petroleum resources and these must be fully harnessed."

The company also made a passing reference for the need for the big four banks to support what it called the nation's backbone farming and processing industries and the extractive sector.

The major banks have been emphasising their commitment to green finance and backing sustainable and environmentally sound projects.

Greymouth said it was also ready to use its own drilling rig and partner with the government in drilling for supercritical geothermal resources, which are hotter and deeper than conventional geothermal resources, and which offer greater energy.

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