Kupe

Kupe Oil and Gas Field Profile

Location and Geology

The Kupe oil and gas field is located in the Taranaki Basin, approximately 30 kilometers offshore south-west of Hawera, New Zealand. It is situated in shallow water, with a depth of about 35 meters (or 137 feet).

Ownership and Operation

The field is currently operated by Beach Energy Resources NZ (Kupe). The ownership is shared among several companies:

• Beach Energy
• Genesis Energy
• OG Oil & Gas.

Discovery and Development

The discovery well, Kupe South-1 (KS-1), was drilled in 1986, followed by Kupe South-2 (KS-2) in 1987, and Kupe South-3 (KS-3) and its sidetrack in 1988. These wells identified a stratified hydrocarbon reservoir with a significant oil column underlying a thick natural gas column. However, the development was delayed due to low oil and gas prices at the time. The final investment decision was made in June 2006, with an initial budget of NZ$980 million, which was later increased by 10% in July 2007.

Infrastructure

The Kupe project includes several key infrastructure components:

• Offshore Platform: An unmanned offshore platform built above the field production wells, supporting up to six wellheads. The platform consists of a topside deck supported by four legs driven into the seabed.
• Subsea Pipelines: A 12-inch multiphase subsea pipeline to bring raw gas and liquids to shore, along with three 50mm subsea utility lines to carry chemicals and other products to the platform.
• Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD): Used to avoid damaging the Taranaki coastline, the HDD technique takes the gas pipeline and utility lines underground from 500 meters inland, under the beach and cliffs, and out 1.5 kilometers offshore where they connect to the subsea pipeline and utility lines.
• Onshore Production Station: Processes the raw gas and light oil from the field to meet sale specifications. The station includes a low-pressure flare system and an elevated flare for emergency use.
• Pipeline Network: New pipelines were installed to transfer raw gas from the HDD shore crossing to the production station and to transfer sales gas from the production station to the Kapuni Gas Treatment Plant.

Production

Commercial production at the Kupe field began in March 2010. The field produces:

• Approximately 20 petajoules (PJ) per year of sales gas
• 1.7 million barrels per year of condensate
• 90,000 tonnes per year of LPG.

As of recent updates, the field has recovered about 68.40% of its total recoverable reserves, with peak production achieved in 2017. Production is expected to continue until the field reaches its economic limit in 2043, contributing around 10% to New Zealand's daily gas output.

Reserves

The recoverable proven and probable reserves for the project are estimated at:

• 254 PJ of sales gas
• 14.7 million barrels of light oil/condensate
• 1.1 million tonnes of LPG.

Recent Activities

Recent activities include the completion of the Kupe South 9 development well by the jackup rig Valaris 107, which intersected 26 meters of net gas pay across two separate flow units within the Kupe Field’s eastern fault block. The well was cased and completed for production and connected to the onshore Kupe Gas Plant.

Conclusion

The Kupe oil and gas field is a significant contributor to New Zealand's energy infrastructure, operated by Beach Energy and jointly owned by several companies. The field's production is managed through a comprehensive infrastructure that includes offshore and onshore facilities, ensuring efficient and environmentally considerate operations. Despite being in production decline, the field remains crucial for meeting New Zealand's energy needs.