TAG Oil Announces Abandonment Plans at Waitangi Valley-1 and Return to Drilling of
Core Production Assets in Taranaki
Vancouver, B.C. – September 16, 2014 – TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX: TAO) and (OTCQX: TAOIF), reports the Company has agreed that after encountering extreme drilling conditions, including high-pressure shallow hydrocarbon zones, in the interest of safety, the surface section of the Waitangi Valley-1 well, located in Petroleum Exploration Permit 38348, will be plugged and abandoned.
CEO Garth Johnson 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.”
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 and as detailed in the table below:
Permit Number Well Name TAG Working Interest
PEP 54877 Cheal-E-JV-6 70%
PMP 38156 Cheal-E7 100%
PMP 38156 Cheal-E8 100%
Conference Call Recording
TAG Oil hosted a discussion on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 5:00 am Pacific Time. Interested parties may access the conference call recording here or dial in via phone for a recording.
Replay Dial-in Information
Available From: 09/16/2014 5:00 PM PT
Available Until: 09/23/2014 11:59 PM PT
Toll-Free U.S. Dial-in #: 888-286-8010
Secondary Dial-in #: 617-801-6888
Passcode: 32057157
