VANCOUVER, Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX:
TAO) and (OTCQX: TAOIF), announces that the Cardiff-3 well located in Petroleum Mining
License 38156 was spudded on September 2,
2013 and is presently drilling at a depth of approximately
1000 meters. The Cardiff-3 well
will take approximately 30 more days to reach its total projected
depth of 4,900 meters.
Cardiff-3 is the first of three
back-to-back deep wells being drilled (Cardiff-3, Heatseeker-1 and Hellfire-1) by TAG
(100%) targeting Taranaki's successful Kapuni Formation.
All three wells are situated within the Taranaki Basin's main
deep discovery fairway, where proven producing reserves of 6.9 TCF
of gas and 372 million barrels of oil/condensate have been
discovered in the Eocene-aged Kapuni Formation so far. (Source:
http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/petroleum/facts-and-figures)
Combined, the assessed "mid-range" resource potential for the
Cardiff, Heatseeker and Hellfire
prospects is 477 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 18 million
barrels of associated condensates, as follows:
|
|
|
Gas (Bcf) |
|
|
Condensate (MMbbls) |
Prospect |
|
|
P90 |
|
|
P50 |
|
|
P10 |
|
|
P90 |
|
|
P50 |
|
|
P10 |
Cardiff |
|
|
68 |
|
|
160 |
|
|
382 |
|
|
2.04 |
|
|
5.49 |
|
|
15.15 |
Heatseeker |
|
|
83 |
|
|
197 |
|
|
469 |
|
|
2.50 |
|
|
7.90 |
|
|
18.75 |
Hellfire |
|
|
53 |
|
|
120 |
|
|
270 |
|
|
1.59 |
|
|
4.78 |
|
|
10.79 |
Total |
|
|
204 |
|
|
477 |
|
|
1,121 |
|
|
6.13 |
|
|
18.17 |
|
|
44.69 |
Sproule International Limited has independently assessed the
resource potential for Cardiff,
and TAG's internal qualified reserve evaluator has assessed the
resource potential of the Heatseeker and Hellfire prospects, all
with an effective date of July 31,
2013. The resource assessments in the table above have been
made in accordance with NI 51-101 and the Canadian Oil and Gas
Evaluations Handbook and are supported by several existing
commercialized Kapuni Formation discoveries.
These deep wells are part of TAG's 11 well drilling campaign in
Taranaki, which will be completed over the next six months. This
program consists of a combination of development drilling,
appraisal and exploration drilling: TAG currently has two drill
rigs actively operating with a third rig to begin operating on TAG
controlled land shortly.
TAG Oil Ltd.
TAG Oil Ltd. (http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian-based
production and exploration company with operations focused
exclusively in New Zealand. With
100% ownership over all its core assets, including extensive oil
and gas production infrastructure, TAG is enjoying substantial oil
and gas production and reserve growth through development of
several light oil and gas discoveries. TAG is also actively
drilling high-impact conventional and unconventional exploration
prospects identified across more than 2,669,780 net acres of land
in New Zealand.
The resource estimates in this news release were prepared with
an effective date of July 31st, 2013.
The estimates for Cardiff have
been externally prepared by Sproule International Limited and the
remaining estimates were prepared by an employee of TAG Oil Ltd.
both of which are qualified reserve evaluators in accordance with
NI 51-101 and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluations Handbook.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements contained in this news release that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve
various risks and uncertainty affecting the business of TAG. Such
statements can be generally, but not always, identified by words
such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates",
"forecasts", "schedules", "prepares", "potential" and similar
expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may",
"could" or "should" occur. These statements are based on certain
factors and assumptions including:
A. All estimates and statements that describe the Company's
objectives, goals, production rates, optimization, infrastructure
capacity and or future plans relating to the seismic, testing, work
over and drilling programs in the Taranaki, Canterbury and East Coast Basins are
forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and
necessarily involve risks and uncertainties including, without
limitation: risks associated with oil and gas exploration,
development, exploitation, production, marketing and
transportation, volatility of commodity prices, imprecision of
reserve estimates and production guidance, environmental risks,
competition from other producers, and changes in the regulatory and
taxation environment. These forward-looking statements are based on
certain factors and assumptions, including factors and assumptions
regarding the management's views on the oil and gas potential in
TAG's permits, well performance and production rates, the success
of any operations, completing infrastructure and the costs
necessary to complete the operations; and
B. Those relating to TAG Oil's exploration and development of
its oil and gas properties within the Cheal and Sidewinder project
areas, the production and establishment of additional production of
oil and gas in accordance with TAG Oil's expectations at Cheal and
Sidewinder, well performance, drilling, the completion of new
infrastructure at Cheal and Sidewinder, optimization, the increase
of cash flow from new production, expected growth, results of
operations, performance, prospects, evaluations and opportunities.
While TAG Oil considers these factors and assumptions to be
reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove
to be incorrect. Actual results may vary materially from the
information provided in this release, and there is no
representation by TAG Oil that the actual results realized in the
future will be the same in whole or in part as those presented
herein.
TAG Oil is involved in the exploration for and production of
hydrocarbons, and its property holdings with the exception of the
Cheal and Sidewinder project areas are in the grass roots or
primary exploration stage. Exploration for hydrocarbons is a
speculative venture necessarily involving substantial risk. There
is no certainty that the expenditures incurred on TAG Oil's
exploration properties will result in discoveries of commercial
quantities of hydrocarbons. TAG Oil's future success in exploiting
and increasing its current reserve base will depend on TAG Oil's
ability to develop its current properties and on its ability to
discover and acquire properties or prospects that are producing.
There is no assurance that TAG Oil's future exploration and
development efforts will result in the discovery or development of
additional commercial accumulations of oil and natural gas. Other
factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements are also set forth in
filings that TAG and its independent evaluator have made, including
TAG's most recently filed reports in Canada under National Instrument 51-101, which
can be found under TAG's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
TAG undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise required by
law, to update these forward-looking statements in the event that
management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors
change.
SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.