GETTING THE SOUTH PUMPING

We blogged on this a couple of days ago - Its a good start.

Press Release by ExxonMobil at 2:51 pm, 08 Oct 2009

ExxonMobil New Zealand (Exploration) Limited (EMNZEL) and Todd Energy announced today that they have received approval from Crown Minerals to amend their work program commitment in permit PEP 50117, located in the Great South Basin.

A change to permit conditions was sought to facilitate more effective exploration of the permit area. To assist with this, EMNZEL (90% and operator) and Todd Energy (10%) will seek interest from other parties to farm-in to the permit. A decision to drill a well in the permit area will be contingent on the outcome of discussions with parties interested in acquiring an equity position in the acreage.

ExxonMobil Project Manager, Adem Djakic, said that seeking interest from other potential partners is standard industry practice, and assists with spreading the financial and technical risk typical of high risk exploration basins such as the Great South Basin.

"The Joint Venture has spent a significant amount of money on this initial phase of the exploration program so far, and brought in specialists with extensive technical expertise to evaluate the data." he added. "We have been committed to stakeholder engagement, and kept stakeholders informed throughout the process."

About the Block

PEP 50117 comprises approximately 16,390 square kilometres and is located in the Great South Basin off the southeast tip of New Zealand, 100 kilometres from shore and in a water depth of 500 to 1000 metres.

From 17 December 2007 until 11 April 2008, a 3D seismic exploration program was conducted in PEP 50117. Approximately 1336 square kilometres of 3D seismic and 961km of 2D seismic was acquired and processed. An additional 1200 kilometres of existing 2D data was also re-processed.

ENDS