TAG Oil to Plug and Abandon Waitangi Valley-1

TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX:TAO,OTCQX:TAOIF) announced that it plans to plug and abandon the surface section of the Waitangi Valley-1 well, which is located in Petroleum Exploration Permit 38348. The company encountered “extreme” drilling conditions there.

As quoted in the press release:

The Company will now mobilize the Nova-1 drilling rig and ancillary services back to Taranaki to focus on its core oil producing assets at Cheal in Q3 of fiscal year 2015 ending December 31, 2014 as previously disclosed.

Garth Johnson, CEO of TAG Oil, commented:

Waitangi Valley-1 encountered very high hydrocarbon zone pressures at shallow depths that cannot easily be compared to anywhere else in the world. We understood this program would be challenging and we encountered extremely difficult drilling conditions in the first 856m of drilling. After consulting with worldwide drilling experts and considering all data ourselves, we have made a difficult decision to plug and abandon Waitangi Valley-1 before reaching the intended total depth of 3600m, to maintain the safety and integrity of the operation. The well will be abandoned following all regulatory requirements and with no environmental issues encountered to date. The Company’s previous guidance for fiscal year 2015 did not include any anticipated production or cash-flow from the Waitangi Valley-1 well.

Click here to read the full TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX:TAO,OTCQX:TAOIF) press release.