Shell spends tens of millions to extend life of Maui

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Shell Todd Oil Services is bringing in rigs from around the world to try to prolong the life of its Maui gas fields.

The company will spend tens of millions of dollars on the programme at Maui and will also start drilling at its onshore Kapuni field during the next year.

Rob Jager, general manager of Shell Todd, said rigs would be used to drill Ad Ihi, about five kilometres northwest of the Maui A platform and five wells would be sidetracked from Maui B.

The modular rig used to drill Ad Ihi is fully automated, a New Zealand first.

"Maui's in its twilight years and we're doing whatever we can to extend that. While New Zealand is well placed in terms of renewable energy sources, gas continues to play an important part of that puzzle," Jager said.

"We see plenty of potential opportunity left in Maui but it's small and incremental and we'll continue to work those."

Jager said a new drilling programme will start at Kapuni, New Zealand's oldest gas field, later this year. Two new wells will be drilled over eight months.

Shell Todd this year spent more than $60 million on the Ruru exploration well south of Maui which has supplied much of New Zealand's gas for the past 30 years. It is due to return to that site later this year, Jager said.