New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZPM) has launched its 2016 petroleum block offer, which includes four offshore release areas and one onshore release area collectively covering 525,515 sq km.
The areas are:
• The 186,181-sq-km 16NRN-R1 of the offshore Northland-Reinga basin.
• The 60,978-sq-km 16TAR-R1 of the offshore Taranaki basin.
• The 68,662-sq-km 16PEC-R1 of the offshore Pegasus-East Coast basins.
• The 208,632-sq-km 16GSC-R1 of the offshore Great South-Canterbury basins.
• The 1,062-sq-km 16TAR-R2 of the onshore Taranaki basin.
David Darby, NZPM manager, commercial analysis and investment, explained that the tender offers a range of exploration opportunities, from proved, producing areas like Taranaki, to frontier regions where little exploration has taken place.
“New Zealand’s 2016 block offer builds on previous tenders, extending our prospective acreage,” Darby said. “The release areas all contain working petroleum systems, and cover various play types both onshore and offshore.”
Bids for Block Offer 2016 must include a work program that demonstrates a technical understanding of the tender area for which a company applies. The invitation for bids for Block Offer 2016 closes Sept. 7. Permits are expected to be granted in December.
New Zealand in December 2015 granted nine petroleum exploration permits covering 429,289 sq km as part of Block Offer 2015.
Most active were OMV AG unit OMV NZ Ltd., which received four offshore permits in the Taranaki basin in partnership with Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd., and Greymouth Petroleum Ltd. unit Petrochem, which took three permits in the onshore Taranaki basin.
New Zealand has run annual block offers since 2012.
