OMV prepares for $200m project to 'make Maui great again'

Gas has been produced from the Maui-A platform since the last 1970s and was initially expected to run out after 30 years. Photo / supplied

New Zealand's dominant gas company is preparing to spend more than $200 million in a bid to extend the producing life of the Maui gas field.

Austrian oil and gas company OMV is preparing to begin the Maui-A Crestal Infill redevelopment campaign, to boost production from the first Maui platform for up to another five years.

Using the Archer Emerald drilling rig, more than 100 people are set to be involved in a project to drill around six side-track wells in an attempt to exploit parts of the reservoir which have not been tapped in more than 40 years of production.

Discovered in 1969, production from Maui began a decade later under a Government contract which would last until 2009. Two platforms, Maui-A and Maui-B, now operate the field.

While it was expected to be exhausted in 30 years, improvements in technology and further drilling programmes have seen reserves upgraded and production extended.

OMV, which began operating in New Zealand in 1999, took over 100 per cent ownership of the Maui field when it bought the New Zealand assets of Shell and a minority stake held by Todd Energy in 2018.

It now produces more than half of New Zealand's gas and undertook a major exploration campaign in 2019/2020.

Gabriel Selischi, OMV's Australasian chief executive, said the project to extend production from Maui-A was part of its plan when it paid US$578m (NZ$896.2m) for Shell assets.

"That was the plan when we took over the assets from Shell," Selischi told the Herald.

"The biggest project one year and a half ago, when we took over, was to make Maui great again, and this is what we try to do now."

The Emerald Archer Rig is being assembled onshore in Taranaki and will soon be shipped to the platform. Once in place, around 60 workers will work in shifts on the drilling platform, with another 25 in a support boat and 15 onshore.

OMV hopes to begin the mobilisation phase of the project, with the first well expected to be drilled in September.

Over a year, the workers will aim to drill a new side-track well around every two months to try to tap into new parts of the reservoir closer to the surface than the original wells.

Originally expected to start early in the year, the project was delayed by the onset of Covid-19.

Selischi said the project was "counter cyclical" with contractors and equipment more available than usual because projects in major oil producing countries had been put on hold because of Covid-19.

But it still posed challenges. While most of the workers could be found in New Zealand, some specialist workers needed to be brought from overseas.

This will require approval from the Government to allow workers to come to New Zealand, with Selischi saying talks with officials on visas were ongoing.

"We are confident that we will come to a solution. We have a little bit of time in front of us."