First oil from the Maari Growth project
- Production starts at the MR-8A well
- Total of five wells expected to be drilled at Maari by mid-2015
OMV is pleased to announce "first oil" from its Maari redevelopment drilling campaign in New Zealand.
The Maari redevelopment drilling campaign in New Zealand, also known as the Maari Growth project, aims to increase reserves, production and recovery from the producing Maari field.
The well, known as MR-8A, was started on November 28 producing from a previously undrained compartment in the Maari field. The well was side-tracked out of an abandoned injection well and drilled horizontally into the Moki formation to a total length of 3,824 m. The production capacity for this well has been estimated at 4,500 barrels of oil per day (gross).
Jaap Huijskes, OMV Executive Board member responsible for Exploration and Production: "It is a great achievement to revitalize an existing field. Conditions in the Tasman Sea are challenging and remote but the team has been able to safely deliver the project. Additional production from Maari through existing facilities will greatly improve efficiency and reduce operating cost per barrel."
In April 2014, the offshore drilling rig Ensco-107 was installed in the field carrying out abandonment, workover and drilling operations. The first well was drilled into the untapped Mangahewa formation and has been suspended to implement a revised completion concept. The MR-8A well is the second in the campaign.
The Maari Growth campaign includes drilling of five wells into producing and new reservoirs. Total investment of OMV will be around EUR 205 mn and the campaign is expected to be completed by mid-2015.
The Maari field is located in a water depth of 100 m, around 80 km off the Taranaki coast of New Zealand. The field was developed by OMV New Zealand as operator of the Maari Joint Venture (JV) and began production in February 2009. The field production has since declined from peak rates of approx. 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (net to OMV).
The Maari JV partners are: OMV New Zealand Ltd (69%, operator), Todd Maari Ltd (16%), Horizon Oil International Ltd (10%) and Cue Taranaki Pty Ltd (5%).
Background information:
OMV New Zealand
OMV New Zealand is one of the country’s largest liquid hydrocarbon producers, the third largest gas producer, and a major explorer in the offshore Taranaki Basin and the Great South Basin off the coast of the South Island. It has been active here since 1999 when it acquired shares in the Maari oil discovery which it developed and now operates. Focusing strictly on exploration and production in New Zealand, OMV New Zealand currently holds shares in the Maui and Pohokura gas fields and the Maui pipeline. OMV New Zealand is a subsidiary of OMV Aktiengesellschaft.
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 42.41 bn and a workforce of around 27,000 employees in 2013, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is Austria’s largest listed industrial company. The Exploration and Production business segment has a strong base in Romania and Austria and a growing international portfolio. 2013 daily production stood at approx. 288,000 boe/d. OMV operates a gas pipeline network in Austria and gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany with a capacity of 2.6 bcm. In Refining and Marketing OMV has an annual refining capacity of 17.4 mn tonnes and as of the end of 2013 approximately 4,200 filling stations in 11 countries including Turkey.