VANCOUVER,
June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - 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.
SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.