|
June/July 2001 |
|
New Zealand |
|
TGS-NOPEC has commenced the acquisition of new, non-exclusive 2D seismic over a previously unexplored area of the Taranaki Basin. The survey will cover an area of approximately 59,336 km2, with water depths ranging from 500 m at the edge of the Taranaki Shelf, down to 2000 m at the permit area's westernmost point. Norwegian-based TGS-NOPEC has contracted the seismic ship Polar Duke for the two month survey, which should be completed by the end of June, 2001. The deepwater extension of the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand's first hydrocarbon-producing province, is believed to have significant hydrocarbon potential. Based on data from adjacent basins and new satellite gravity data, the basin is extensive, with up to 10,000 m of Late Mesozoic and Cainozoic section present. Modelled petroleum generation and migration indicate generation to have occurred continuously from about 80 million years ago to the present. The 6,800 km survey, which TGS Nopec said received good prefunding, will provide a regional grid of modern high quality seismic data (including five well-ties onto the shelf) which will elucidate the structural development of the basin and help to define the size and nature of petroleum traps in this frontier region which is adjacent to the giant Maui gas/condensate field. The project was initiated by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, whose researchers will interpret the survey's processed data. Senior IGNS geophysicist, Chris Uruski, says the scant existing data on the deepwater Taranaki Basin shows potentially oil-bearing rocks at least 8 km thick – thicker than the average oil-bearing formations in the Taranaki Basin. IGNS hydrocarbon scientists believe sediments in the deepwater basin were deposited at the same time that rich, black marine shales were being deposited in many of the world's main oil provinces. In conjunction with the survey, the New Zealand government has plans for a block release program for the area in early 2002. |