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PATRICK O'SULLIVAN - Business Editor | GOING DOWN: Discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Hawke's Bay would be a major geographical shift in an industry that has been centred on operations in Taranaki (left). PHOTO/FILE
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Oil company Apache Corporation says they have a 20 per cent chance of finding oil in commercial quantities in Hawke's Bay.
Apache has entered into a joint venture with Tag Oil Ltd, which has an exploration permit for much of Hawke's Bay south of Napier.
Apache senior project advisor Alex Ferguson said the company has received permission from most land owners needed for their ground mapping, and local iwi had been consulted.
Some local Maori have been recruited by Apache, Mr Ferguson said.
Finding oil in Hawke's Bay would be a paradigm shift for the Taranaki based oil industry. It would see a badly needed investment injection to Hawke's Bay with many skilled jobs becoming available - the largest section of Hawke's Bay workers are unskilled labourers.
Mr Ferguson said the next stage of the exploratory phase will be drilling 12-15m holes with charges placed in them. A helicopter will transport a portable drilling rig between sites.
The charges will be detonated in January and the resulting seismic data recorded by computers.
"We are keen to know if there is oil there - can we unlock the secrets 2km down.
"We're looking for something between 2000m-3000m because the pressure will be pretty good," he said.
Local environmentalists have become alarmed at the prospect of oil companies in Hawke's Bay because of the risk to aquifers from the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Napier Labour list MP Stuart Nash hosted a showing of the film Gasland recently that highlighted the dangers of fracking to aquifers.
Fracking is the process of injecting water at high pressure into rocks, cracking them to release natural gas.
"Why would you cause people that level of anxiety?" Mr Ferguson said of the screening.
There are allegations of toxic fluid added to the water to assist in the fracking process.
Mr Ferguson said Apache is purely in an exploratory phase. "People are concerned with fracking when we aren't even after a shale gas play."
Hawke's Bay Today regularly receives communications over fracking concerns.
Hawke's Bay has extensive petroleum-laden shale deposits with hundreds of naturally-occurring gas and oil seeps in the region.
At the beginning of the last century Gisborne hospital was heated by a natural gas seepage piped to it.
Mr Ferguson said Apache are well aware of local concerns over the possibilities of a new petroleum industry in Hawke's Bay and Apache's programme is slower than it has been in other places so everyone can be consulted at each phase.
He said the company seeks to be transparent and if there is a commercial find that transparency would remain.
"If we get to that point down the road we will bring everything out and present it to landowners and interested parties."
He said Apache should not be alone in giving an assurance of environmental integrity.
"We are hoping the consenting bodies and central government will come to the table and help give a good level of assurance."
Hawke's Bay Regional Council CEO Andrew Newman said his organisation was seeking to build a working relationship with Apache to help allay any environmental concerns.
Issues would be looked at when Apache was specific about where they may commence operations, he said.
"We will assess any application transparently on its merits and according to our own statutory resource management plan framework," he said.
Napier environmentalist John Scott is taking assurances with a grain of salt.
"The track record of petroleum companies is abysmal. The track record of councils is abysmal."
Alastair Stewart, communications advisor for New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals which manages the government's oil, gas, minerals and coal resources, said councils are responsible for determining requirements of drilling or fracking operations as part of a resource consent process.
"Some companies may request to use fracking techniques. Experience worldwide shows that environmental impacts are minimal especially in New Zealand, where fracking is usually carried out in rock at least several hundred metres deep, far below aquifers used for drinking water or irrigation.
"In New Zealand, 30 wells have been fracked since 2003, and all have been conducted without incident."
Taranaki environmentalists have a different opinion, holding a National Day of Action Against Fracking last week by erecting signs around a site where water that has been used for fracking has been stored and that they say is toxic.
Mr Scott said education was the key to moving forward. "I'm not an expert but what I do try to do is open people's minds and say, there is a down side
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