CRUDE OIL - Natural Gas: In My Beautiful Country New Zealand: Crude oil is the term for"unprocessed"oil it comes out of the ground. It is also known as Petroleum. Crude Oil is a fossil fuel meaning that it was made naturally from decaying plants and animals living in ancient seas millions of years ago. Anywhere you find Crude Oil was once a seabed. Crude Oil vary in colour from clear to tar black, and in viscosity, from water to almost solid. Crude Oils are such a useful starting point. For so many different substances because they contain hydrocarbons. There are two things that make hydrocarbons exciting. (1). Hydrocarbons contain a lot of energy. Many of the things derived from crude oil like gasoline diesel fuel paraffin wax and so on take advantage of this energy. (2). Hydrocarbons can take on many different forms. the smallest hydrocarbon is methane which is gas that is a lighter than air. Longer chains with 5 or more carbons are liquids. Very long chains are solid like wax or tar. By chemically cross linking hydrocarbon chains you can get anything. From synthetic rubber to nylon to the plastic in tupperware. Hydrocarbon chains are very versatile. Crude oils are made of the following elements or compounds: Carbon-84%, Hydrogen-14%,Sulfur-1to3%,Nitrogen-Less than 1%,Oxygen less than 1%, Metals-less than 1% Salts-less than 1% (sodium chloride,magnesium chloride, calcium chloride). The Problem with Crude Oil is that it contains hundreds of different types of hydrocarbons all mixed together. You have to separate the different types of hydrocarbons to have anything useful. Fortunately there is an easy way to separate things, and this is what Oil Refining is all about. For any students wanting the break down this information for chemical science. http://science.howstuffworks.com/oil-refining.htm Oil in Taranaki: Here is a little bit of early Taranaki Information on Moturoa Black Gold the good oil. The Alpha Well: Using picks and shovel they dug an exploratory well in a spot near the landward end of the Breakwater at Port Taranaki. The painstakingly slow hand digging process took several months. When they got deeper a Tripod/derrick was erected over the hole. A Cage lowered workmen and brought up spoil. In January 1866 New Plymouth settler's heard electrifying news oil had been found. But there was a problem - six metres down the men had come across a pocket of Natural Gas - overcoming and Hospitalalising one of the diggers. A wind sail was rigged to help Ventilate the shaft. The News on the oil strike was a little premature - the men had found some seepage but not alot else.Two Months later the "alpha Well" was down to 20 metres and a small flow of oil was being collected. But the Bottom of the Shaft was too Dangerous for manual digging and a water drill was brought up from Nelson. The Gush of oil enthusiasm waned and it was 20 years before any futher real interest was shown in the Moturoa Feild. In 1905 the Moturoa Petroleum Co's Birthday well,Blew out impressive amounts of oil And Gas.Oil Fever once again hit New Plymouth. But the flow was not sustained and the company when into Liquidation. By 1911 the Moturoa oilfield had three wells producing around 110 Barrels (18,000 litres) of oil a week. New Zealands first oil Refinery was built opposite the present day coolstores on Ngamontu Road in 1913. The Refinery was self contained with it's own tin-making section and automatic filling unit as well as the distillation process. Funding was difficuit to get and fluctuating levels of oil and the onset of world war one in 1914 saw the closure of the refinery and all production along the beach ceased. It was many years before the world again sat up and took notice of the little oilfield in New Plymouth. In 1913 Bayley Road oil Well was dug. It was one of the most productive of the Moturoa Wells,producing up to 480,000 litres of petroleum before being abandoned in 1930. Old Wells at Moturoa were reinvestigated and new exploratory wells were drilled at Okoki,Tarata and Whangamomona as the search for oil spread over Taranaki. In 1931 William Fossey set up the New zealand oil Refineries Ltd producing Petrol,Oil,grease and wax. Petrol was sold at pumps around New plymouth for the first time taranaki people were able to buy oil from their own oilfeild. After world war two (1945)the Dobson brothers Earnest,Fred and Owen took over the refinery business and drilled several wells. They installed beam pumps to the old wells that had previously relied on natural pressure to bring the oil to the surface. The pumps brought new life to what were once thought "empty" wells. Locals dubbed the constantly rocking pumps "nodding neddies" The Peak Trademark was born in 1954 and locals were once again, able to buy "Taranaki's own high octane fuel". Over 130 years,65 wells were drilled in Moturoa. While some were doomed due to lack of funds. Other's were aimed purely at "get rich quick"gullibles.But some where successful,producing a total of 220,000 Barrels of oil (35 million Litres) over the years. Today the Oilfeild is again producing. A trickle of black gold rises unaided to the surface. The RNP-4 well nestled next to the yatch club is quietly producing three barrels of oil a day. Shell d'Arcy Todd's(later Shell BP Todd) discovery of the gasfeild at Kapuni in 1959 saw the company refining the condensate. Shell BP Todd brought the Refinery in 1961 and closed it in 1972 when the crude oil supply became uneconomic. GasFeilds at Kapuni: The Discovery of the Gasfeild at Kapuni under The Shadows of Mount Egmont/Taranaki in 1959 Brought new Life to the Province of Taranaki. Although gas had been expected the pressure was higher than anticipated. The cap rock was drilled through and a massive expansion of gas at the bottom of the well caused a blow-out,throwing mud high into the air. Back in the 1950's there were not many people who knew about pressure control in wells. Kiwi's did not know anything about pressure control. Once the blow-out preventer shut in the consistency of the drilling. Mud was changed so it equalised the downward pressure in the hole and things settled. New Zealands first major hydrocarbon was born.Taranaki was on it's way to becoming the petrochemical heart of the nation. It was estimated the Field would have a life of around 25 years. The Condensate/light oil was extracted from the gas and sent to a newly built tank farm at Paritutu near Port Taranaki. It was then shipped up to Marsden Point Refinery. For More Information on Marsden Point Refinery: http://www.ehagleyestate.net/crudeoil_naturalgas.html Although Kapuni was not a Crude oil field it was large enough to supply gas to several big Power stations. But there was no way to get the gas to the key markets and  and Shell BP Todd baulked at the cost of building such an infrastructure. It made plans to build a power station on the Gasfeild. The Government Stepped in and agreed to establish THE Natural Gas Corporation and to buy,trade and transfer the gas to consumers. Kapuni Gas had a high content of Carbon Dioxide(45 percent) so a production plant was built to remove it and LPG from the gas before it entered the Pipeline. In World terms the 20 Centimetre wide High Pressure pipeline carrying the Gas was a baby,But to get it the 600 Kilometres from Kapuni up to Auckland and down to Wellington was a big undertaking- even on a global scale. For More Information on the Pipeline Extensions: http://www.pukeariki.com/stories/businessandindustry/kapuni.asp GAS Online: Production began at Kapuni in 1969 10 years after the first discovery of gas, with four wells and a main Production plant. A year Later the Pipeline opened. Within two Months 51,000 Customers had signed up to natural gas. Many of these were domestic users. Increasing demand soon resulted in the need for Kapuni to expand and what was known as the Kapuni Acceleration Programme began. The Discovery of the Large offshore Maui Feild in 1969 and the subsequent introduction to the market in 1979 saw it take over part of the job of supplying gas to the nation. A total of 14 Wells were to be drilled on the Maui A Platform. By the 1980's ten more wells had been drilled at Kapuni allowing the producers flexibility. George Cawsey then a drilling Superintendant, drilled the 5760 metre Kapuni 13 well in 1983 at that time it was the Deepest well in the Southern Hemisphere. Gas Recycling was introduced A Kapuni. The process involved taking the Gas out of the ground,extracting the condensate(light oil)and pumping it backinto the ground. Once underground the gas would go back into the formations and travel through the rock,picking up further condensate on it's way. This could again be extracted off. In 1982 Natural Gas Corporation's sister Company Petrochem set up a plant next door at Kapuni to use the natural gas and catalysts to fix nitrogen in the air to make ammonium gas. The Gas was then converted into Granular Urea for use as a Fertiliser. The Auckland/Wellington pipeline was lengthened to include Gisborne,Tauranga,Hawke's Bay and later,Whangarei.In 1986 a 56Kilometre-long pipeline was built between Kapuni and Motunui,near Waitara in North Taranaki. GAS was supplied to Synfuels gas to Gasoline Plant. Kapuni 14 was drilled in 1987 and in 1991 Kapuni 15 was the last well George Cawsey drilled in the Kapuni Feild. He Went on to Drill a Further eight Wells on the Maui B Platform in 1993/1994 before Retiring in 1996. That Year BP decided to stop Exploration and Production in New Zealand,and sold it's share to the other two parteners.In 2003 Kapuni 16 was Drilled. Today Thirty-five years after it's Birth the Kapuni Gasfield has 14 wells in Operation. It has outlived it's life expectation and is still the second Largest Condensate Field in New Zealand after Maui. After a Lawsuit in 1996 the untreated Gas is now owed 50/50 by the Natural Gas Corporation and Shell Todd. HagleyEstate's Farm at Midhirst,has the Kapuni Pipeline through the land. Received a letter this morning from Pipeline Easement Patrol. Saying, During the next six weeks,staff from Vector will be in your area preforming a routine inspection of the pipeline easement. As you maybe aware,Natural Gas Corporation has recently completed a merger with Vector Limited and as of 1 April 2006,we changed our name to Vector: http://www.vectornetworks.co.nz (News Release 10 may 2006). Kapuni has seen a lot of first's: It was found in the first Modern Oil Exploration Programme in New Zealand, It was the first Gas Field to be Commercially Developed in New Zealand and it had the First Major Direct Government Involvement in the Petrochemical Industry. It was the Birth of the Nation's Petrochemical Industry and Herald Taranaki's Position as the Petrochemical Heart Of New Zealand. Compiled By Elsie Hagley,Urenui,New Zealand http://www.ehagleyestate.net 6 August 2006 Update on Crude oil -Natural Gas in My Beautiful Country New Zealand. Kupe Development off the South Taranaki Coast is expected to start in September it will meet 15% of New zealands annual gas demand. Expected to produce gas for New Zealand for 15 - 20 years. The feild was discovered 20 years ago. The $980 Million development is a joint project between Origin Energy (50%) ,state-owned Genesis Energy (31%),New Zealand Oil and Gas (15%) and Mitsui New Zealand(4%). A production platform will be installed in the middle of Kupe 30 km offshore and six production wells will feed gas and condensate via a pipeline to a production station that will be built on the coast slighty to the west of Ohawe, towards the Opunake Coastline. Once producing Kupe is expected to annually yeild 20 petajoules of gas, 90,000 tonnes of LPG, and 1.7 million barrels of condensate (light oil).Over its lifetime it will provide at least 253.5 petajoules of gas,more than a million tonnes of LPG and 14.7 million barrel of condensate. All of the Gas will be taken by power generator Genesis Energy and apart of that will be used to feed its new power station being built in Huntly. The Pohokura $1 billion Energy Project in North Taranaki is now underway after a costly delay. The $200,000-a day jackup rig Ensco-56 arrived off the Taranaki coast in mid March to first install a offshore production platform,them drill a total of six wells,but the rig was unable to drill a shallow founation hole needed to help secure the platform's legs on the sea floor. All the dillers did was blow a hole in the seabed,forcing the rig to be moved to a new location so they could start over again. But the troubles seem to over now. Workers aboard the Ensco-56 have finally drilled the founation hole,and placed a 54m-deep pre-installed conductor into the hole. This means the way is now open for the heavy-lift ship annegret to go to Pohokura to deliver the production platform. Pohokura operator Shell Exploration New Zealand Ltd was scheduling mooring trail in the middle of july if the weather was right,which it was. I will keep updating this,So Please keep Checking it out. More on the $1 billion Pohokura Gasfeild. Out at motunui on the North Taranaki Coast,the scene looks reasonly quiet. On the shore there's a brand-new gas processing station 15 August 2006 Joint Venture owners Shell Todd and OMV announced that the first GAS from the Pohokura had stared to flow. Gas and condensate came from three completed onshore wells through the production station at Motunui,just north of Waitara. Natural Gas from the feild will be fed into the north Island gas network and the condensate will be piped to storage tanks at omata in New Plymouth for shipping to refineries. 1 october 2006 POHOKURA. New $800 Million Gas Feild is now in Commercial Production with estimates it could eventually prove to be Bigger than initially thought. The owners of the Pohokura Gas Feild ( Offshore Between Waitara and Urenui) Shell with 48% and Todd Energy,Austrian Firm OMV with 26% each have announced Gas in Commerical Quanitities flowing from the feild into Production Station at Motunui. Pohokura takes up from Maui, the Life Saving Feild will be the Main Source source of Gas for Contact Energy's three Big North Island Power Stations for for five years. Shell said Pohokura Gas Feild could hold more than 700 Petajoules. 1 May 2007 New Zealands biggest privately-owned oil company is going it alone with its oil exports. Todd Energy has chartered a big Singapore-based tanker and in future will ship its own oil to export markets, rather than use a tanker under long-term charter to fellow Energy Company Shell Petroleum Mining. Umuroa a converted supertanker will be the floating production, storage and off loading vessel at the Tui oil feild 50 km off Taranaki. It will be permanently moored by giant anchor chains and will have the capacity to store up to 750,000 barrels of oil. Visiting tankers will position behind the Umuroa to take on the crude - at the rate of 50,000 barrels a day. Todd's ship, the 28,433 tonne Savannah arrived late April on it's maiden visit to take on 150,000 barrels of crude oil from the Todd-owned McKee field and condensate from the Pohokura gas field, of which Todd is a 26% owner. In future the Savannah will also export Todd's share of the oil produced at the Maari offshore field, which is now being developed. 1 Sept 2009 - A snippet from Taranaki Daily news: By James Weir New Zealands biggest oilfield Maari, recently came in to full production of almost 40,000 barrels a day, according to one of the field partners. Horizon Oil said Maari, about 80 kilometres off the Taranaki coast, started producing oil on 25 February 2009 and so far has produced 2.9 million barrels with almost all of that sold. Since all five production wells at Maari came on line a fortnight ago, the field has been producing more than 39,500 barrels a day, better than initial expectations of 35,000 barrels. If productions is maintained, the field could produce about 14 million barrels in its first year. By comparison the offshore Tui field hit peak production of 50,000 barrels, but that has tailed off rapidly. Horizon also reported that drilling is under way on one of two wells near Maari, which if successful, would extend the field. The Manaia well will be drilled to 6500 metres, about 10km southwest of Maari. Horizon has a 10 per cent stake in Maari. 1 Sept 2009 - A snippet from Taranaki Daily news: By Rob Maetzig More Drilling action off Taranaki. Offshore oil and gas exploration activity will step up a notch in Taranaki this summer, with two rigs working in local waters The biggest rig will be the semi-submersible Kan Tan IV, due off Taranaki in a few weeks to begin operating in waters southwest of the region. Another, the jack-up rig Ensco 107, will be drilling in the northern section of the Taranaki Basin off Awakino. The first well to the west will be Hoki-1, 150 kilometres from New Plymouth, which will be spudded in October. Then the Kan Tan IV will drill at least two prospects near the existing Tui Oilfield, followed by another exploration well called Tuatara-1. The first northern offshore well will be Albacore-1 an exploration well to be drilled by the Ensco-107 in water depths of around 95 meters. 80 km north of New Plymouth. The operator will be United States company Westech which holds a 50 per cent share, with the other shareholder being NZOG with 40 per cent and Mighty River Power with 10 per cent. The well will also be spudded in October at a total estimated cost of $20 million to $25m. NZOG's internal analysis is that Albacore is more likely to contain oil than gas and if successful, could support an offshore development similar to Tui. Compiled by Elsie Hagley Urenui New Zealand.