Offshore staff
SYDNEY, Australia –AWE Ltd. (ASX: AWE) reports that, on March 18, the Pateke-4H well being drilled by the semisubmersible drilling rig Kan Tan IV was preparing to side track a short section of lower wellbore. The mechanical drillstring difficulties experienced in the original hole could not be fully resolved, and the lower part of the hole has been abandoned.
The company now plans to side track with a 12-1/4-in. drilling assembly from a measured depth of 3,375 m (11,073 ft), drill into the F10 reservoir at a horizontal angle of approximately 90°, and then set the 9-5/8-in. casing at approximately 4,110 m (13,484 ft) as planned. The well will then be drilled horizontally through the F10 reservoir to a total measured depth of 5,361 m (17,589 ft).
The Kapuni F10 sandstone objective has been intersected on prognosis with oil shows and real-time logging indicating the likely presence of an oil-bearing reservoir. However, AWE says that the commercial significance of the oil shows will not be clear until the horizontal drilling is completed.
Pateke-4H targets a mapped northern extension of the currently producing Pateke field. The well is being drilled in water depth of 124 m (407 ft) with a planned TMD of 5,361 m (17,589 ft), including a 1,272-m (4,173-ft) horizontal section. If successful, the well will be completed for subsequent tie-back to the Tui FPSO, the Umuroa, for production in 2015.
The Pateke-4H development well is in PMP 38158 and AWE is the operator. Located in the offshore Taranaki basin, New Zealand, PMP 38158 contains the Tui, Amokura, and Pateke fields. Joint-venture partners in PMP 38158 are: AWE Ltd. as operator (via subsidiaries), 57.5%; New Zealand Oil & Gas (via subsidiaries), 27.5%; and Pan Pacific Petroleum (via subsidiaries), 15.0%.
03/19/2014
