TAG Oil starts drilling onshore

Independent Canadian oil and gas company TAG Oil has started drilling its onshore Mangamingi-1 exploration well in eastern Taranaki.

The drilling rig will take 14 days to drill an 1835m well, targeting several previously untested exploration targets on exploration permit PEP 38758.

The company has exploration permits totalling 1.5 million hectares, including sites in the Canterbury and East Coast basins and is prospecting on a large scale here.

President Drew Cadenhead said from Calgary that Mangamingi-1 was the first well to test the hydrocarbon potential of several different targets in eastern Taranaki. "We were encouraged by strong hydrocarbon indicators from a geochemical survey last year and a later 2-D seismic programme identified some interesting structures."

- NZPA