New Zealand Energy Corp. provided Tariki-5 Development update. The drilling programme and design documentation for Tariki-5 has been completed and an independent well examiner has issued a Drilling Design Certificate. All regulatory consents are in place for the well drilling. The Tariki-5 Drilling and associated Development Outline is attached. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to procure long lead items for the Tarki-5 well and to fund working capital. Discussion with the rig contractor are ongoing and a drilling unit can be available for contract in First Quarter 2024. The well is designed to test the intermediate fractured Tikorangi limestone formation en-route to the target overthrust Tariki sandstone reservoir. The Tikorangi formation, from which over 24 million barrels of oil has been produced at the nearby Waihapa/Ngaere fields held and operated by NZEC, is also present in the Tariki permit. The Tariki-2C well produced over 180,000 barrels of oil from the Tikorangi formation - a fractured limestone. The new seismic data indicates the Tariki-2C well penetrated the Tikorangi formation approximately 200 metres down dip from the crest of the structure suggesting the potential for recoverable oil at the top of the structure. Further penetration and tests were conducted in Kupara-1 and Kupara-1A which each tested oil at low rates. Assessing the likely quantities of any oil in the Tikorangi Formation is inherently difficult as oil quantities require information about the nature and extent of the fracturing within the host rocks. A production test will be performed in Tariki-5 using coiled tubing and N2 for artificial lift if required.
The target overthrust Tariki sandstone will then be drilled and cased in a crestal location mapped some 20 metres updip of the Tariki-1A well. The well is forecast to be capable of producing at rates over 20 MMscf/d with associated condensate.