Thorough Punawai-1 Consenting Process Concludes

Thorough Punawai-1 Consenting Process Concludes

Media statement 13 August, 2013

TAG Oil said today that the consenting process for its proposed Punawai-1well near Gisborne has been one of the most comprehensive it has ever been through.
The well is anticipated to be one of the four TAG is required to drill in its East Coast permits under conditions set by the New Zealand Government.

TAG Oil Chief Operating Officer, Drew Cadenhead, said the Gisborne District Council has asked TAG for a considerable amount of information over several months: “This has been a very robust and in-depth consent application process and we were happy to provide all information requested by Council.”

“For our part we have also consulted widely with iwi and land owners over a number of years and we have been as open and transparent with them as we could possibly be.

The recent non-notification decision was made by Gisborne District Council, after thorough assessments of possible environmental effects deemed the proposed activity to have a less than minor effect on the environment. In making its decision, the council sought expert opinion from independent reviewers on matters such as well integrity, ground water effects and seismicity.

“As we have said before we will methodically carry out all work to the highest safety and environmental standards, while striving to leave the smallest footprint possible as we have done in Taranaki for the last decade.”

Mr Cadenhead said he believed this is demonstrated by the consent compliance report Horizons Regional Council has just issued TAG on the Ngapaeruru-1 well recently completed near Dannevirke. “It said we were 100-percent compliant on all aspects of the site construction and drilling consents for that well.”

Eleven site visits by Horizons and eleven phases of ground water and surface water sampling and analysis were undertaken during the well activity with no incidents recorded.

“We would like to thank our team working in the East Coast for performing such a great job at Ngapaeruru-1. Not only are we happy to have a lot of community support, we achieved 100-percent compliance during all activities of our drilling program, we did so safely with no complaints registered in relation to any environmental effects from the drilling activities.

“We have started how we mean to go on – safely and with the community and environment in mind. We set very high standards for our staff and contractors and we demand they are adhered to. This will be the same for all operations carried out on the East Coast, or anywhere else,” he said.

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