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Source: ONE News -
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New Zealand is finally reaping the benefits of the Kupe gasfield with the opening of the Kupe gasfield in Taranaki on Thursday.
The $1.3 billion project taps into major energy sources off the Taranaki coast and is now on the way to meeting a major part of NZ's energy needs.
"About 250 petajoules of gas will be produced over 15 years...around 10-15% of New Zealand's energy but it will probably be more as the other fields decline. About a million tonnes of LPG will be produced and about 15 million barrels of oil condensate," says Origin Energy managing director Grant King.
Sitting 4,000 metres below the surface the liquid-rich gas was discovered 25 years ago but was deemed too expensive to tap into as global demand and prices fluctuated.
"We felt round early 2000 that this project's time had come, Maui had begun to decline, New Zealand's growing and continues to grow and needs more energy and gas has a critical role to play in the energy market," says King.
A staggering 56 kilometres of pipe imported from as far away as Canada makes up the steel jungle in the shadow of Mount Taranaki and the offshore platform is connected to the plant by a 30 kilometre pipe that runs under the sea.
It takes just 10 people to run the Kupe plant but 1,000 people were involved in its construction.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee says the Kupe project is an important milestone in the development of the petroleum sector and the Taranaki oil and gas industry accounts for almost 90% of the sector's nationwide workforce.
"Not only does Kupe play an important part in New Zealand's energy infrastructure, it perfectly illustrates the important role the gas and oil industry can and do play in securing a better future for New Zealand," says Brownlee.
The Kupe Gas Project is a joint venture between owner-operator Origin Energy Resources Kupe Limited (50%), New Zealand Oil and Gas (15%), Genesis Energy (31%), Mitsui E&P Australia (4%).
It includes an unmanned platform 30 kilometres offshore in 35 metres of water, a single pipeline delivering raw product from the platform to an onshore production facility, where gas, LPG and light crude is separated, and a second utilities pipeline carrying, for example, power and fibre optic communications to (and from) the platform.
And the Prime Minister is keen to see more like it.
"It's been a long time in the making but it's a welcome addition and the first of a number of opportunities I suspect," says John Key.
Origin is now exploring more of those opportunities off the coast of Auckland and Canterbury.
