WELLINGTON, Feb 25 - First oil has flowed from New Zealand's Maari oilfield, the field's operator OMV said on Wednesday, with the first shipment expected in April.
The first two of five production wells have been finished and are being hooked up to production facilities, with the other wells due to come on stream by the third quarter this year.
"This field has the potential to establish OMV as the largest liquid producer in New Zealand," said OMV executive board member Helmut Langanger in a statement.
The startup of the 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) field was initially planned for March or April last year, and then delayed to August and then October 2008.
Maari will yield a light sweet, high-quality, crude, with an estimated American Petroleum Institute gravity of 34.6 degrees and a low-sulphur content of around 0.09 percent.
The Maari oilfield, located 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the southwest coast of the North Island, is estimated to have recoverable reserves of around 50 million barrels with a life of 10-15 years.
The oil produced will be processed and stored on a floating production vessel.
Maari is New Zealand's second major oilfield to come onstream since July 2007, when the Tui field started and briefly rose to 43,000 bpd.
Tui's output has already fallen and is expected to average around 25,000 bpd in the financial year ending June 2009, though the field's reserves were raised to 50.1 million barrels earlier this year.
Austrian oil and gas company OMV has a 69 percent stake in the Maari field, Australia's Horizon Oil has 10 percent, New Zealand's Todd Energy 16 percent and Cue Taranaki Pty 5 percent.
OMV also owns a 26 percent stake in New Zealand's Pohokura gas field, the country's second-largest, which came onstream in October 2006.
The first two of five production wells have been finished and are being hooked up to production facilities, with the other wells due to come on stream by the third quarter this year.
"This field has the potential to establish OMV as the largest liquid producer in New Zealand," said OMV executive board member Helmut Langanger in a statement.
The startup of the 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) field was initially planned for March or April last year, and then delayed to August and then October 2008.
Maari will yield a light sweet, high-quality, crude, with an estimated American Petroleum Institute gravity of 34.6 degrees and a low-sulphur content of around 0.09 percent.
The Maari oilfield, located 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the southwest coast of the North Island, is estimated to have recoverable reserves of around 50 million barrels with a life of 10-15 years.
The oil produced will be processed and stored on a floating production vessel.
Maari is New Zealand's second major oilfield to come onstream since July 2007, when the Tui field started and briefly rose to 43,000 bpd.
Tui's output has already fallen and is expected to average around 25,000 bpd in the financial year ending June 2009, though the field's reserves were raised to 50.1 million barrels earlier this year.
Austrian oil and gas company OMV has a 69 percent stake in the Maari field, Australia's Horizon Oil has 10 percent, New Zealand's Todd Energy 16 percent and Cue Taranaki Pty 5 percent.
OMV also owns a 26 percent stake in New Zealand's Pohokura gas field, the country's second-largest, which came onstream in October 2006.
