Abstract

New Zealand is a submerged continent with 96% of the Gondwana fragment below sea level. New Zealand's frontier basins cover 1.7 million km2. Centerbury Basin is 360,000 km2 Cretaceous rift basin with minor Neogene inversion with gas/condensate shows. Deepwater Taranaki Basin is a Mesozoic back-arc rift basin with minor Eocene inversion that has well commitments due in 2011. The East Coast Basin is a Mesozoic Gondwana margin basin/ Neogene collisional basin that has historic onshore oil production with gas shows in offshore wells. Source rocks for the ECB are late Cretaceous and Paleocene marine shales. The Great South Basin is a Cretaceous rift basin with nimor Neogene inversion with oil and gas shows in offshore wells. The Raukumara basin is a Mesozoic margin basin with a Neogene depocenter with no wells but onshore oil seeps. The Reinga/Northland Basin is a Mesozoic rift basin with Eocence inversion with gas show onshore. The Pegasus Basin is a Mesozoic margin basin with no wells drilled but has onshore seeps. There are various turbidite and limestone reservoirs with up to 30% porosity in the Pegasus Basin including the Waipawa Formation, Whangai Formation, Glenburn Formation and Karekare Formation. There is industry interest in New Zealand and lots of government support.

Keywords: Reinga/Northland • Deepwater Taranaki • Taranaki • Bellona • West Challenger • Solander • Campbell • Pukaki • Great South • Canterbury • Pegasus • Eat Coast • Raukumara Carrack • Caravel • Galleon gas discovery • PEP 38262 • PEP 38264 • PEP 38451 • DTB01-17 • Wainui Mbr • O