OMV's Maui redevelopment to extend gas field's life

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

The Archer Emerald modular drilling rig is due to arrive off Taranaki this week to begin a year-long campaign.

A year-long offshore drilling campaign is set to begin in Taranaki to extend the lifespan of the Maui gas field.

Austrian oil and gas explorer OMV has contracted the Archer Emerald to drill redevelopment wells as part of the company's Maui A Crestal Infill drilling campaign.

In an emailed response to questions, an OMV spokesman said the 1000-tonne, three-storey tall rig was expected to arrive this week and remain in the area for around one year.

The campaign is not a 'pure exploration' campaign, he said.

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The Maui field was first drilled in 1969 and has continuously produced gas and condensate since the platform was commissioned in 1979.

'A number of the original wells are now exhausted and all new wells from this campaign involve side tracks from these currently non-productive well bores,' he said.

Six or more wells, between 4200m-5000m in depth, will be drilled from the existing Maui platform into the crest of the Maui A structure.

There will also be 1000m horizontal sections drilled to target gas and condensate in the uppermost part of the structure.

The project is one part of a $500m plan to redevelop the Maui and Pohokura fields.

'We are currently developing further drilling opportunities in both these fields as extending the lifespan will be critical to ensure continuing security of domestic energy supply,' the spokesman said.

The drilling campaign represents a significant investment by OMV NZ in the Taranaki community, he said.

The Archer Emerald crew of 32 has been recruited locally and overseas and will be accommodated on the Maui platform alongside the existing operating crew and drilling services staff.

Rig management and other staff will work from the Archer offices in New Plymouth to provide onshore support and interface with the many local engineering and drilling support service companies contributing to the campaign.

It is the rig's second visit to Taranaki, after it was contracted by Shell Todd Oil Services between 2011 and 2014 to drill three sidetrack wells from the Maui field.

During that time the rig drilled the longest ever well in New Zealand of 6.6 km - at the time a record platform well length.

OMV has recently been drilling in the Great South Basin using the COSL Prospector rig, which had previously been contracted to Tamarind off the Taranaki coast in 2019.

The first well results had confirmed no significant hydrocarbons.