VANCOUVER, June 23, 2011 /CNW/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX-V: TAO) and (OTCQX: TAOIF) is pleased to report that a 4-Point Isochronal flow test was completed over the main discovery zone in the Sidewinder-2 discovery well, which achieved stabilized flow rates of 8.8 million cubic feet per day (~1467 BOE per day) with less than a 25% drawdown.
The results from Sidewinder-2 further strengthen the already robust project economics, with anticipated full-time commercial production commencing upon completion of the new Sidewinder production facilities in a few months time. The Sidewinder-2 well is the fourth Sidewinder well that has been flow tested, all of which have achieved excellent flow rates, as summarized below:
| Sidewinder Discovery Flow Test Results |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| Sidewinder Well |
Gas Flow Rate
(Million Cubic Feet
Per Day) |
BOE Flow rate
(Barrels of Oil
Equivalent Per Day) |
Final Drawdown
Rate |
Net Oil and Gas
Pay Encountered |
| Sidewinder-1 |
7.40 |
1,233 |
28% |
14 Meters |
| Sidewinder-2 |
8.80 |
1,467 |
25% |
47 Meters |
| Sidewinder-3 |
7.21 |
1,202 |
40% |
15.4 Meters |
| Sidewinder-4 |
6.98 |
1,163 |
25% |
19 Meters |
| Totals: |
30.39 mmcf/day |
5,065 BOE/day |
|
The Sidewinder-2 exploration well was drilled to a depth of 1,597 meters (5,238 feet), intersecting the main Sidewinder discovery zone, as well as four other separate oil-and-gas charged zones of interest totaling 47 meters (157 feet) of net pay. The interpreted pay zones are primarily within the Miocene-aged Mt. Messenger Formation; however oil shows were also encountered in the shallower Urenui Formation.
The Sidewinder oil and gas discoveries are located in TAG Oil's Petroleum Exploration Permit 38748 (TAG 100%) in the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, with further exploration drilling in the lightly-explored area scheduled to recommence in September 2011. TAG will continue to target the widespread high-impact prospects identified in the Mt. Messenger Formation.
Cheal-C1 Oil Discovery Flow Testing to Begin
Following final completion of the Sidewinder-2 testing program, TAG Oil will begin flow testing the Cheal-C1 oil discovery located in TAG's Cheal oil and gas field, also in the Taranaki Basin. As reported in the Company's June 6, 2011 Press Release, the Cheal-C1 exploration well encountered 15 meters (49 feet) of net oil-and-gas bearing sandstones within the Mt. Messenger Formation, which significantly extends the known oil saturation area in the Cheal permit area. The Cheal-C1 well also encountered oil and gas shows within a 73-meter-thick section of sandstone within the deeper Moki Formation target. For further information on TAG's Cheal-C1 discovery please visit http://www.tagoil.com/20110606-Cheal-C1-extends-Mt-Messenger-Area-Deeper-Wildcat.asp.
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% control over all its core assets, including oil and gas production infrastructure, TAG is anticipating substantial oil and gas production and reserve growth through development of several light oil and gas discoveries. TAG is also actively drilling high-impact exploration prospects identified across 2,712 sections of land in the onshore Taranaki and East Coast Basins of New Zealand's North Island.
In the East Coast Basin, TAG Oil is pursuing the significant unconventional resource potential estimated in the fractured shale source-rock formations that are widespread over the Company's acreage. These oil-rich and naturally fractured formations have many similarities to North America's Bakken Shale source-rock formation in the successful Williston Basin.
"BOE"s may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6Mcf: 1 Bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.
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 Oil. All estimates and statements that describe the Company's objectives, goals, or future plans, including the drilling plans and flow testing related to the exploration, testing and development of TAG Oil's Sidewinder oil and gas discovery wells and the Cheal-C1 oil and gas discovery well located in the Taranaki Basin of New Zealand, 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, 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. Consequently, the Company's actual results may vary materially from the information provided in this release and there is no representation by TAG Oil that actual results realized in the future would be the same in whole or in part as those presented herein.
Additional risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements are set forth in, but are not limited to, filings that the Company and its independent evaluator have made, including the Company's Annual Information Form and its most recent reports in Canada under National Instrument 51-101.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.