Development of the offshore Taranaki Kupe gasfield is taking a big step forward with the arrival from Singapore of the rig that will drill the project's three production wells.
Weighing about 16,000 tonnes, the Ensco 107 rig was 157m high and 63m wide, the Kupe project said today.
During the drilling campaign, about 100 drilling team members and their support staff would live on board the rig.
The rig's first job would be to install the wellhead platform jacket, one of the largest structural components for the project's offshore platform, situated 30km offshore from Hawera.
The jacket was now in Port Taranaki harbour waiting for the Ensco 107 to be set up on the Kupe location, the project said.
Once the jacket was installed, the rig would begin drilling the project's three production wells and then finally install the topsides of the offshore platform.
The development in 25m of water is estimated to cost more than $1 billion, with the Kupe reservoir 3000m below the surface.
The Kupe gas project is expected to be completed by mid-2009 and to produce about 254 petajoules of natural gas, 1.1 million tonnes of LPG and 14.7 million barrels of light oil.
Participants in Kupe are operator Origin Energy, with 50 per cent, Genesis Energy 31 per cent, New Zealand Oil & Gas 15 per cent, and Mitsui E&P Australia 4 per cent.
