Austrian operator OMV has secured a semi-submersible drilling rig for an exploration campaign in New Zealand’s Taranaki basin later this year, with the prospect of using the same rig in the Great South basin for frontier drilling.

The rig is the semisub COSL Prospector, which is en route to New Zealand for a campaign with Tamarind Resources at the Tui Area oil complex.

The rig is well suited to New Zealand’s marine and weather environments. Its owner COSL Europe says the semisub was delivered in November 2014 and is designed for North Sea and Norwegian Sea harsh-environment conditions.

The semisub can operate in water depths of up to 1500 metres and can drill to depths of 7500 metres.

Tamarind’s campaign is planned to start in June for a duration of about 110 days, although the company is contemplating a fourth well depending on the results of its initial three probes.

As far as OMV is concerned, its Taranaki basin plans are part of an 11-well exploration and appraisal campaign that was given regulatory approval earlier this year.

The idea is to drill nine exploration wells and two appraisal wells in various permits during more than one phase.

One of the permits OMV has mentioned is PMP 38160, which contains its producing Maari oilfield as well as the Raroa floating production, storage and offloading vessel and the Maari wellhead platform.

The other five permits are part owned by Malaysia’s Sapura E&P, which farmed in to the licences last March — this was before OMV’s acquisition of 50% of Sapura E&P and before the New Zealand government stopped issuing new offshore exploration permits.

Mitsui E&P also owns an interest in three of the blocks. The five permits are PEP 51906 (Cascade), PEP 57075 (Cloudy Bay), PEP 60091 (Te Whatu), PEP 60092 (Ridgeline) and PEP 60093 (Toutouwai), and water depths at the proposed well locations range from 102 metres to 158 metres.

A spokesperson for OMV confirmed a contract had been signed for the COSL Prospector for later this year “which we expect to use in Taranaki.

"Subject to confirmation of Great South Basin plans and timing, we will have an option to use it there also," the spokesperson said.

In the Great South basin — a harsh-environment frontier area off the bottom of the South Island — OMV has outlined its intent to drill three exploration wells, and up to seven appraisal wells depending on the outcome of the exploration probes in Block PEP 50119.

The first exploration well called Tawhaki will be drilled in a water depth of about 1200 metres, more than 200 kilometres off the coast of Dunedin. If a commercial discovery is made, up to five appraisal wells could be drilled into this one structure, OMV said in its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

The operator would like to start drilling this summer, but first must gain environmental consent followed by a marine approval for the drilling.

Public submissions on the drilling plan are due with the EPA by 27 May. Once submissions close, a public hearing must be held within 40 working days.

If approved, this will be the first drilling endeavour in the Great South basin in decades.

The Austrian company has had a presence in the basin since 2007. Marine seismic — both 2D and 3D — has been previously acquired over the prime area of interest in PEP 50119. OMV is by far the dominant operator in New Zealand following its acquisition of Shell's upstream assets in the country.

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OMV secures big rig for Taranaki basin drilling