Origin Energy Limited says that at 12pm EST on 2 January, the 17 inch hole section of the Kupe South 6 (KS-6) well had reached the planned total depth of 2,000m MDRT (measured depth from rotary table). A wiper trip is currently underway to condition the hole prior to running and cementing the 13-3/8 inch casing. Upon completion, the 17 inch hole sections of the KS-7 and KS-8 wells will be drilled and cased prior to commencement of the subsequent 12-1/4 inch sections.

Drilling began at 22:40 hrs on 19 December 2007. The 22 inch top hole sections of all three development wells in permit PML 38146 have been completed to the following depths:

KS-6 560m MDRT KS-7 566m MDRT KS-8 568m MDRT

Each of the three production wells will be drilled by the ENSCO 107 jack-up drilling rig to a vertical depth of approximately 3,400 metres.

The Kupe Project drilling campaign is being undertaken on a “batch-drilling” basis. This process involves completing the same section of each of the three wells before proceeding to the subsequent section and is a more efficient approach than drilling the wells separately.

Participants in the Kupe Gas Project are: Origin Energy Resources (Kupe) Limited* (Operator) 50% Wholly owned subsidiaries of Genesis Energy 31% New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited (through its subsidiaries: National Petroleum Ltd. 12.75%, Petroleum Equities Ltd. 1.25% and Nephrite Enterprises Ltd. 1.00%) 15% Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd 4%

Tags: Origin Energy