Drill another well??

SMH, September 23 2002

Long wait for Huinga

Another prospect testing the patience of investors is the Huinga-1 oil well in New Zealand's Taranaki Basin, where production testing is proving frustrating.

Despite extensive oil shows during drilling and the potential for the discovery to hold reserves of up to 40 million barrels, the basin's complex geology has made the assessment process difficult.

Testing of the two prospective zones - Kapuni and Murihiku - has not yet resulted in economic indications of oil, which is annoying and costly for the Australian joint venture partners - Bligh Oil, AWE and Pancontinental Oil.

Intersuisse suggests the partners will need to drill yet another well in order to adequately assess the Huinga reservoir.

As a result, the broker is maintaining a hold recommendation on Bligh, the major partner in the well.