OMV Strikes Oil, Gas off NZ

OMV has made an offshore oil and gas discovery at the Toutouwai-1 shallow-water well at New Zealand's Taranaki basin, the Austrian player said in a statement emailed to NGW on April 14.

OMV and its partners, Japan's Mitsui E&P and Malaysia's SapuraOMV, half-owned by OMV, sank the Toutouwai-1 well at production exploration permit 60093 in early March, with the borehole reaching the target reservoir this month. Preliminary results are encouraging, with several hydrocarbon charged layers having been encountered in Cretaceous sandstones, OMV said, adding that testing had to be curtailed because of risks posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The discovery could be a "significant" result for OMV in New Zealand, the country's senior vice president for Australasia, Gabriel Selischi, commented.

"If future appraisal activities confirm the initial drilling results, this could prove to be an exciting outcome for our country’s future energy supply," he said. "There has not been a major energy find in New Zealand for over a decade and we know that new domestic energy supply is critical to ongoing security of supply, affordability, and ensuring a smooth transition to a renewable future."

Toutouwai-1 marks the third and final well in OMV's 2019/2020 drilling campaign. The first two, Tawhaki-1 and Gladstone-1, both came up dry. OMV had intended to drill a fourth, Maui-8, but has shelved this plan because of the pandemic. OMV is now working with its partners to decide what additional work is needed to determine the Toutouwai-1 discovery's viability.

Toutouwai-1 was drilled to a depth of 4,317 metres in waters 130 metres deep, 50 km off the Taranaki coast, by the COSL Prospector semi-submersible. It has been plugged and abandoned.

OMV is striving to become a gas-only producer in New Zealand, having agreed to sell its 69% stake in the country's offshore Maari oilfield to Singapore-based Jadestone Energy for $50mn in November. It also operates New Zealand's Maui and Pohokura gas fields.