Austrian operator OMV is preparing to start an offshore exploration and appraisal drilling campaign off New Zealand.

Earlier this year, OMV contracted the semi-submersible COSL Prospector for the programme and the drilling rig is currently getting into position in the offshore Taranaki basin.

It is understood the drilling effort will consist of two firm wells plus two one-well options.

DOF Subsea is contracted to provide two vessels — Skandi Emerald and Skandi Atlantic — to support the project, but DOF last week said it will also supply the Skandi Hercules to a major operator in New Zealand for operations starting in December.

OMV's campaign, which local activists are trying to disrupt, will include wells in the Taranaki basin and, possibly, the Great South basin.

The company has previously outlined its plan to drill in both areas.

In the Taranaki basin, OMV owns five permits with its Malaysian division SapuraOMV Upstream.

The five permits are PEP 51906 (Cascade), PEP 57075 (Cloudy Bay), PEP 60091 (Te Whatu), PEP 60092 (Ridgeline) and PEP 60093 (Toutouwai).

Water depths at the proposed well locations range from 102 metres to 158 metres, but very little information is available on the proposed wells.

If OMV does venture south to the Great South basin — a harsh-environment frontier area off the bottom of the South Island — it aims to drill an exploration well called Tawhaki in a water depth of about 1200 metres.

Exploration

OMV set for NZ drilling