New Zealand Exchange Limited
P.O. Box 2959
Wellington
14 July 2009
Dear Sir,
Widespread Energy’s Green Gate increases share of Taranaki license
Widespread Energy holds 11.8% of Green Gate Ltd, a Nelson based, privately owned New Zealand oil and gas exploration company.
Green Gate presently holds 33.3% of on-shore Taranaki license PEP 51150, with the other 66.7% being held by ASX listed GB Energy. On Friday 10 July GB Energy announced it was assigning its 66.7% stake in PEP 51150 to Green Gate. The assignment is subject to the approval of Crown Minerals which is anticipated will be gained in the near future.
Today Neil Ritchie, a journalist with Australian based energy news website PetroleumNews.net, reported the following comments made by Stacey Radford, managing director of Green Gate:
“We are probably the best placed of all the juniors in New Zealand to complete our work program commitments. We will have to look at our work program but we have the advantage of owning our own rig, the NRG Rover, which is stacked in Christchurch right now but due to go to Taranaki in September or October to work for another joint venture”.
Radford said the company was still keen on drilling licence PEP 51150 early in 2010. He holds high hopes for PEP 51150 – one of nine new Taranaki leases awarded last September – with the permit being north of the offshore Kupe gas-condensate field and adjoining Origin Energy’s Rimu-Kauri-Manutahi and Waihapa-Ngaere fields.
”The lease had some existing open-file 3D seismic data available that had enabled Green Gate to identify several prospects, including one at drillable status” concluded Mr Radford.
We consider this increased involvement by Green Gate to in this Taranaki license to be a positive development for both Green Gate and potentially for Widespread Energy.
WEN still holds and is steadily progressing other significant energy sector opportunities, including:
- The Kotuku oil seeps near Lake Brunner (PEP 38526) at Kotuku (near Lake Brunner),
- PEP 50439, offshore west coast of the South Island,
- The Chatham Rise rock phosphate project (further detailed in the recent annual report).
For and on behalf of the Board,
Chris D Castle
Onekaka, 14 July 2009