Origin Energy Limited
(ASX:ORG) has announced that the first shipment of light crude from the Kupe oil and gas field will leave Port Taranaki next week.
The Kupe gas and oil field is located 30km off the south Taranaki coast of New Zealand and has been producing natural gas, LPG and light crude since the wells were opened in early December.
The initial 120,000-180,000 barrel shipment is bound for the Kwinana Refinery in Australia.
Kupe expects to provide approximately 254 petajoules of natural gas, 1.1 million tonnes of LPG and 14.47 million barrels of light crude.
Once Kupe is fully operational it will provide 10-15% of New Zealand’s annual gas demands and more than 50% of the country’s LPG demand.
Origin Energy has a 50% ownership of Kupe, Genesi Energy holds a 31% stake, New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited has 15%, and Mitsui E &P Australia 4%.
Origin Energy reported a profit of $6.9B for fiscal 2009.
