New Zealand / Regional

More oil and gas found in Taranaki

14:10 pm on 15 March 2011

Canadian oil company TAG has found more oil and gas in Taranaki.

The company says its Sidewinder-2 onshore well near Inglewood struck oil at a dept of 1,597 metres.

It is the company's third find in five months in Taranaki.

Chief executive Garth Johnson says the well extends the area of last November's Sidewinder-1 discovery, and adds five separate oil-and-gas-charged zones.

Mr Johnson says the company's drillers have only begun exploiting the area.

The new find will be flow-tested ready for the Sidewinder production station due to be built by mid-2011.

Another well will begin immediately. The company anticipates boosting production through multiple discoveries in the Taranaki Basin via high-impact exploration drilling.