AWE Limited reported that the Kan Tan IV drilling rig spudded the Hoki-1 exploration well on March 5, and is currently running 13 3/8" casing, having drilled to 1505m.

The Hoki-1 well, located in exploration permit PEP 38401 in the offshore Taranaki Basin, is targeting the oil potential of the Cretaceous North Cape reservoir sequence and the underlying Wainui Formation sandstones. It is testing a large anticline, with potential to contain 250 million barrels of recoverable oil, approximately 135 kilometers west of New Plymouth in a water depth of approximately 330 meters, and approximately 85 kilometers from the Tui oilfield. The well is to be drilled to a total depth of approximately 3,570 meters.

Hoki-1 is the first well in AWE's 2010 drilling campaign in the offshore Taranaki Basin. Immediately following the Hoki-1 well, AWE will drill at least two wells in the area surrounding the existing oil fields at Tui.

Tags: AWE Limited