As well as near total control of the small field, Greymouth wants the lion's share of production from the field situated within the Ngatoro mining licence PMP 38148.
Greymouth further claims it has the right to sell Goldie gas and that Indo-Pacific Energy is in breach of certain unspecified "duties" as operator of the Goldie field. Goldie, which Indo-Pacific estimates could hold up to two million barrels of oil, has produced more than 205,000 barrels since early 2001 from the Goldie-1 discovery well.
Industry commentators say one or two of the Greymouth claims may have some validity, but they are dubious about the rest. However, they say these types of claims are typical of Greymouth principals Mark Dunphy and John Sturgess, who put together the failed Greymouth bid for Fletcher Challenge Energy in early 2001.
"Dunphy and Sturgess are like a dog with a bone any time they get the scent of money," said one commentator.
These claims are the latest revelations in the on-going spat between Indo-Pacific and Greymouth, which earlier this year bought the former FCE 59.57% stake in PMP 38148 from Shell New Zealand for an undisclosed sum.
Sketchy details of the dispute, which could easily end up in the High Court, surfaced several months ago, although more information has only recently been made available by the Canadian-listed Indo-Pacific company for its North American shareholders. Sturgess has declined to comment on all details of the Goldie dispute.
Commentators say the Greymouth claim to control Goldie operations is linked to the Ngatoro joint venture operating agreement and also probably to Greymouth's claim to a 92.2564% interest in Goldie instead of the 59.57% Ngatoro stake it bought from Shell.
Most joint venture operating agreements contain provisions requiring the operator to have a certain minimum interest in the permit, usually in the 25-30% range, to prevent very small partners dictating play. So if Greymouth's claim to a 92.2564% chunk of Goldie is successful then Indo-Pacific's share would fall to only 7.7436% - below the minimum required level - and Indo-Pacific would be required to relinquish operatorship.
Commentators also say there are significant financial implications for both parties if Greymouth succeeds in its claim for the lion's share of Goldie. "If Greymouth pulls this off they will have hit Lotto and Indo will take a big financial hit," said one.
The commentators disagree with Indo-Pacific's assertions that it is not sure of the impact, financial or otherwise, of these claims; whether they would be "positive or negative".
The financial impact could only be positive for Indo-Pacific if Goldie ultimately turns out to be a big failure, with Greymouth incurring nearly all the appraisal expenditure. However, given the success of Goldie-1 this seems very unlikely.
Greymouth's claim to Goldie gas stems from the FCE contract to purchase all Ngatoro gas. Greymouth claims this contract applies not just to Ngatoro gas, but to all gas produced from within the mining licence.
Ngatoro gas is piped to the nearby Kaimiro production facilities, where it is processed, mixed and sold with Kaimiro gas. The price paid to the Ngatoro partners is the lowest in New Zealand as FCE paid for the pipeline from Ngatoro to Kaimiro and pays all of the processing costs. The economics used in setting this price were based on Ngatoro gas only, so it would be a real windfall for Greymouth to be able to pick all Goldie gas at the same low price, say commentators.
At the core of these claims and counter-claims is differing interpretations of Greymouth's purchase of the majority Ngatoro stake from Shell and Indo-Pacific's "sole risk" Goldie venture.
Shell bought back into Goldie last year for an initial payment of about $US750, 000 and agreed to forego production worth several times that amount. Fellow Ngatoro partner New Zealand Oil and Gas declined to buy back in to Goldie.
Indo-Pacific is saying that as sole-risk driller it is entitled to keep all of NZOG's 35.43% Ngatoro stake with regard to Goldie, and that Greymouth can only claim the 59.57% it bought from Shell. Greymouth says the NZOG share has to be divided proportionately. Commentators can see some strong arguments on both sides.
Indo-Pacific was basing its future onshore Taranaki exploration, plus the optimisation of production for the whole Ngatoro mining licence, on the continued success of the Goldie, which produces a light, sweet crude, with less wax content than other Taranaki oil.
Indo-Pacific was also negotiating with a number of interested parties regarding them buying Goldie gas and had some plans to link Goldie into the nearby Ngatoro production facilities. However, little progress will be made on both these issues until the Greymouth-Indo spat is resolved.
