Austria’s OMV has come up dry with an exploration well in New Zealand’s offshore Great South basin.

Joint venture partner Beach Energy confirmed Thursday that operator OMV had advised the Tawhaki-1 well had reached a total depth of 2980 metres but no hydrocarbons were present in the target reservoir.

As a result, the decision has been made to plug and abandon the dry wildcat.

The Tawhaki-1 exploration well was drilled in PEP 50119, in a water depth of about 1200 metres, using the semi-submersible COSL Prospector.

Earlier this month, drilling was halted when the drill pipe was accidentally cut through when the blow-out preventer “unnecessarily engaged” during testing.

Beach said this month it expected the incident to cost it in the region of an extra A$2 million (US$1.3 million).

It had previously indicated its share of costs on the well at A$25 million, indicating a total well cost of A$83.3 million before the incident with the blowout preventer.

No pre-drill estimates had been revealed for Tawhaki but Beach chief executive Matt Kay had said earlier this month the 470-square kilometre mass closure of the prospect indicated it was “a potentially very, very large opportunity”.

OMV operates PEP 50119 with a 52.93% share and is partnered by Beach Energy and Mitsui, holding a 30% and 17.07% interest respectively.

The result at Tawhaki-1 continued a disappointing start to OMV's multi-well campaign off New Zealand, with the Austrian operator already drilling the dry Gladstone-1 well earlier this year.

Other wells confirmed for this programme are the Toutouwai-1 well in Block PEP 60093 in the Taranaki basin and the Maui-8 well in the Maui field production area, also in the Taranaki.

Exploration

OMV comes up dry off New Zealand