Operator Shell Todd Oil Services today also announced that Oil Drilling & Exploration (Borneo) Pty Limited (OD & E) had been awarded the contract to provide a drilling rig for the three deviated onshore production wells and a water disposal well near the Motunui production station.

The drilling rig, which is to be imported from Indonesia, will be the largest and most capable land rig ever employed in New Zealand. The drilling operation is scheduled to begin in first quarter 2005; it is estimated it will take up to 12 months to complete all the wells.

STOS has not released exact figures for the worth of the contracts. But three long-reach deviated wells could easily cost NZ$30 million or more, while a figure of NZ$90 million has been touted for platform design and perhaps several hundred million more for the construction of the unmanned, minimalist platform that will have no helideck and be remotely controlled from shore.

These contracts are the second and third of five major contracts to be announced by STOS, which operates Pohokura on behalf of Shell New Zealand, OMV and Todd Energy.

FEG has been involved in numerous Taranaki energy projects over the years, including this region’s “think big” projects of the1980s and the more recent Maui B oil and Methanex expansions.

“It’s great to see a local company successfully bid for Pohokura and this region will be very, very busy for the next few years with the northern Pohokura and southern Kupe projects,” said one commentator.