TAG Oil Starts Shale Exploration in New Zealand

TAG Oil has undertaken drilling of the Ngapaeruru-1 exploration well is now underway in TAG's 100% controlled Petroleum Exploration Permit 38349, located in the East Coast Basin of New Zealand, the company said last week.

The Ngapaeruru-1 exploration well is targeting the Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai source rock formations at an anticipated depth of 1,800 meters, and will test the unconventional discovery potential in this portion of the Basin.

“The Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai formations are high-quality source rock formations present throughout most of TAG's million-acre East Coast Basin land holdings. These oil-and gas-rich source rocks are comparable in total organic carbon content and oil and gas maturity levels to successful tight oil and gas plays such as North Dakota's Bakken shale in the prolific Williston Basin,” the company said.

Garth Johnson, TAG Oil's CEO commented, “Our strategy has always been to build reserves, production infrastructure, and cash flow from our lower risk conventional assets, leveraging these successes to intelligently pursue high-impact opportunities such as the East Coast Basin. With TAG's continued success in the Taranaki Basin – and our successful commercialization of these discoveries – we continue to deliver on the first part of this plan. Drilling Ngapaeruru-1 is another step in delivering on our business plan: pursuing these higher risk, higher impact exploration wells from a very strong financial position.”