OMV has been granted the first of several regulatory approvals required to drill a deep-water exploration well in New Zealand's Great South basin.
The Austrian operator would like to drill on the Tawhaki structure later this year in a water depth of about 1200 metres in Block PEP 50119 more than 200 kilometres off the coast of Dunedin.
If a commercial discovery is made, several appraisal wells could follow.
