TAG Oil Blog

We put this cross section together illustrating the formations we’re intersecting, including Urenui, Mt. Messenger and Moki.

PEP 38156 (PMP 38156) came through. We drilled Cheal-B4ST to a total depth of 1810 meters, encountering 17 meters of net oil-bearing sandstones within the Urenui and Mt. Messenger Formations. Electric logs show great porosity and permeability, indicating four separate zones are likely to be oil-charged. Two of the four zones intersected are oil-bearing zones never before encountered in wells within this permit…demonstrating that the whole 7500-acre permit area is oil-prone, with multiple shallow horizons prospective for discovery.

Now it’s on to flow testing and the rest of the planned wells in our Taranaki Basin acreage.

Topics: exploration well, Mt. Messenger, Urenui, Announcements, PMP 38156-D, Cheal Oil Field

These are the actual balls we used for our multi-phase frac - forgot I had this photo on the camera

Permit 38156 is a hive of activity as we lay the groundwork for the new Cheal well. Cheal-B4 was suspended by its previous operator back in 2006…we're eager to see if our tests bear out as we think they will based on our data.

 

 

 

 

Topics: exploration well, PMP 38156-D, Cheal Oil Field

Some pictures from the prep work for Phase 3 North Island Taranaki Basin ops, covering Cheal, Cardiff and Sidewinder.

Temporary pipe work at Cheal-BH-1—already our best well at Cheal—waiting on 225m of perfs.	The old Cardiff 2A wellhead. Doesn’t look like much but there's gas down there.
InterDrill rig at Sidewinder, ready to drill 3 more 25m conductor holes: Sidewinder-2, 3, and possibly 4

Topics: Mt. Messenger, Urenui, PMP 38156-D, Cheal Oil Field, Sidewinder Discovery, Cardiff Deep Gas, PEP 38748

Here's a shot of the Sidewinder permit being prepared for future drilling.

A TAG truck in the foreground and Mt. Taranaki behind the trees.

Topics: PMP 38156-D, oil and gas production, Sidewinder Discovery

We’ve tested a conservative range of low draw-down configurations at Cheal BH-1, with production rates from 400 to 500 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day. Predominantly oil with no water, just how we like it.

We’ll keep testing the full production capabilities of Cheal-BH-1 with the goal of optimizing daily flow rates and maximizing long-term reserve recovery, but this alone is great news.

Topics: Mt. Messenger, Announcements, PMP 38156-D, Cheal Oil Field, drilling

Topics: PMP 38156-D, Cheal Oil Field, oil and gas production

This sign will be changing soon. This is the entrance to the Cheal "C" site, which happens to be our new Cardiff site on PMP 8156-D.

TAG Oil is now the proud holder of PMP 38156-D. It's within the same permit boundary as our PMP 38156-S, where we're producing oil and gas and developing discoveries in shallower formations. This ends the old permit split and TAG now controls 100% of all prospective formations within PMP 38156.

The Cardiff structure has been identified as a large anticlinal trap, some 12 km long by 3 km wide, with a number of potential pay zones within the Kapuni Sands Formation. Situated on trend and among several sizable deep gas/condensate discoveries including nearby landmark Kapuni and the prolific Mangahewa and Pohokura gas fields, the Cardiff gas/condensate discovery has the potential to become a substantial resource.

Gas with rich condensates was discovered at Cardiff within the upper Kapuni zone, which encountered 12m of net pay and flowed at over 3 million cubic feet and 100 barrels of condensate (light oil) per day with improving rates observed on long-term testing. This zone can be identified on 3D seismic to be a prospective target across the span of the Cardiff structure. And an even greater resource potential exists in the deeper K1A and K3E zones, where strong gas shows were encountered over a gross 600m interval. This will be a primary target in future Cardiff wells.

Topics: Announcements, PMP 38156-D, Cardiff Deep Gas

We just announced the next phase in TAG's Taranaki program: exploratory and horizontal development drilling, and workover operations within our Sidewinder exploration and Cheal oil discovery acreage.

Sidewinder is one of several prospects identified on permit-wide 3D seismic; we can’t wait to see what it yields. Simultaneously, a service rig will begin more optimization work on two wells within the Cheal Mining Permit.

Lots of work and excitement ahead.

Tons of rain but our roads and lease are in great shape.

Operations central...doesn’t look like much.

Topics: Announcements, PMP 38156-D, Cheal Oil Field, Sidewinder Discovery, drilling