Indo-Pacific Secures Funding for Huinga Deep Prospect

Indo-Pacific

Indo-Pacific Energy Ltd. has reached agreement with Preussag Energie GmbH to fund the drilling of the Huinga Deep Prospect in INDOF's PEP38716 permit area in the onshore Taranaki Basin, New Zealand.

Indo-Pacific will be free carried to an agreed expenditure cap by Preussag for an 11.5% interest through the Huinga-1B well, and will itself fund an additional 0.8% share to retain a total 12.3% interest in the prospect and the permit area.

The Huinga Deep Prospect is mapped as a large structure on the eastern, overthrust margin of the Taranaki Basin, less than 3 miles east of the prolific Waihapa oil field, and to north on trend with Swift Energy's Rimu oil discovery, which is situated in a similar structure.

The original Huinga-1 well was drilled in 1999 to a depth of 13,000 feet, and encountered oil shows. Huinga-1B will re-enter that well and deviate westwards to reach a depth in excess of 14,000 feet, to test a target mapped as having the potential to contain a similar magnitude of hydrocarbons to the Waihapa or Rimu fields. Huinga-1B is expected to commence in February 2002, and will be drilled by Parker Drilling's Rig 188, which is presently working on the Makino-1 well just south of PEP 38716. Other participants in the Huinga-1B project are Swift Energy, Bligh Oil, AWE, Antrim Oil and Euro Pacific Energy.

Indo-Pacific's CEO Dave Bennett said: "We are delighted to welcome a company of the caliber of Preussag Energie into the Huinga-1B project. Preussag is a major German exploration company with worldwide interests, and was successful in its first offshore well in New Zealand with the major Pohokura discovery. We wish them similar success in their first onshore New Zealand well."


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