A record 42 petroleum wells were drilled in New Zealand in 2007 as exploration and development activity reached new heights.
The latest Ministry of Economic Development’s Energy Data File also reports record spending of over $1.5 billion on petroleum industry exploration and development.
The 42 wells drilled were a large increase on the 30 wells drilled in 2006. The previous highest number of wells was 34 in 2005.
Another record was set in the number of offshore wells drilled — 17. This was up from 10 in 2006. Of the 42 wells drilled in 2007, 26 were exploration wells and 16 were appraisal or development wells.
However the number of drilling metres made of 99,854 during 2007 was well short of the record 112,369 metres made the previous year.
Spending on exploration and development more than doubled to $1.56 billion in 2007 from $707 million in 2006.
Most of the expenditure in 2007 was in mining permit developments and exploration where $1.36 billion was spent, up from $574 million spent in this category in 2006.
Spending in exploration and prospecting permits was $200 million last year, up from $133 million in 2006.
The Taranaki/Wanganui region was again the most active area for permits in 2007. Nine permits were awarded to different operators; eight of these were offshore permits.
Wells were drilled in a number of basins including onshore and offshore Taranaki, onshore East Coast Basin and in the West Coast and Western Southland Basins.
Source: Ministry of Economic Development and Lindsay Clark
