New Zealand Oil and Gas Ltd (NZOG) has sold its one millionth barrel of oil from the Tui Area Oil Fields off the Taranaki coast.

NZOG is the New Zealand-based partner in the Tui development with a 12.5% share. The field began production on 30 July 2007 and has averaged over 40,000 barrels of oil a day.

The oil is shipped by tanker directly from the offshore production facility to refineries in Australia and south-east Asia.

The tanker British Merlin is being loaded today, taking total sales to date past the eight million barrel mark - with NZOG’s share being one million barrels.

Tui oil is a light sweet crude that receives a premium price. The average net price received by NZOG per barrel since the start of production is approximately US$89.

In November 2007 proved and probable (2P) reserves in the Tui Area Oil Fields were upgraded by the operator to 41.7 million barrels, almost 50% higher than the estimated reserves of 27.9 million barrels on which the project was sanctioned. NZOG’s share of the 2P reserves is 5.2 million barrels.

Estimated production for the 2007/08 financial year is now expected to exceed 12 million barrels in total, with NZOG’s share being over 1.5 million barrels.

Tags: New Zealand Oil and Gas Ltd