Austral Pacific has appointed Peter Hazledine of Wellington, New Zealand, as a new director of the company, effective from 1 January 2008.

Austral Pacific Chairman, Peter Hill, said Mr. Hazledine brings extensive experience in the petroleum production sector to the company. “We are delighted to welcome such an experienced and knowledgeable industry participant to our board. We look forward to the benefit Austral Pacific will obtain from his wide range of business, reservoir and production engineering experience.”

Mr. Hazledine has 35 years experience in international exploration and production, and has a B.SC (Hons) in Mineral Technology from Otago University, in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand.

Mr. Hazledine spent 30 years with the Royal/Dutch Shell Group in Africa, the Middle East, New Zealand, Europe, and South America. Initially a petrophysicist and production technologist, he moved into operations engineering and management (including 10 years with Shell’s New Zealand operating company, Shell Todd Oil Services, on the Maui and other Taranaki fields). He left Shell in 2004, to take up a senior management position with Vector Gas (formerly NGC), the principal gas distributor in the New Zealand market.

Austral Pacific’s new director Peter Hazledine

Origin Energy and Contact Energy have acquired Swift Energy’s New Zealand oil and gas assets for approximately US$87.8 MM (NZ$115 MM). The purchase includes their two main producing areas in the onshore Taranaki Basin and additional permits and inventory.

The assets are the Tariki, Ahuroa, Waihapa and Ngaere (TAWN) fields, Rimu, Kauri and Manutahi fields, the Waihapa and Rimu Production Stations, oil and gas pipelines from Waihapa production station to New Plymouth, offshore exploration permits and an inventory of equipment and supplies.

Under a separate arrangement between Contact Energy and their majority shareholder Origin Energy, Contact will contribute approximately NZ$54 MM to the total purchase price for the right to own and develop the Ahuroa field as an underground gas storage facility and purchase the remaining gas and LPG reserves in the Ahuroa reservoir. Contact has been investigating gas storage as a means of addressing the loss of flexibility under its gas contracts.

Origin Energy Managing Director Grant King said the purchase of the assets would deliver greater operational synergies with the Kupe gas field, increased exploration opportunities and immediate production and earnings. “The TAWN and Rimu/Kauri/Manutahi assets are an attractive mix of mature producing fields with prospects for in-fill drilling and potential oil and gas upside. We have also acquired a 50% interest in two exploration permits, which lie immediately offshore from the Rimu production facility and adjacent to our Kupe gas field development”, King said.

Contact Energy Chief Executive David Baldwin said “the deal demonstrates the value of a close working relationship between Origin and Contact, giving Contact a much sought after potential gas storage option, delivering greater flexibility in managing its long-term natural gas supply options.”

New Zealand’s Associate Energy Minister, Harry Duynhoven, has announced the release of three additional blocks for oil and gas exploration in the onshore Taranaki Basin.

The offer means a total of 12 blocks are available in the region, situated on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Oil and gas exploration permits in the area opened for bidding in November, 2007.

“I’m pleased to be able to extend the area for exploration, with the addition of these blocks which were not available at the time of the initial offer”, said Duynhoven.

“The Labour-led government is promoting economic growth both in Taranaki and on a national scale by encouraging domestic and international investment in the energy sector. Through Crown Minerals, we have provided technical data which has encouraged investors, some of whom are new to New Zealand, to examine the onshore Taranaki blocks offer in closer detail”, he said.