TAG Oil Acquires Australian Firm's Onshore Taranaki Basin Assets
27 February 2006 - 10:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Acquisition of 24,000 Net Acres From Australian Oil and Gas
Producer Tap Oil Greatly Increases TAG Oil's Holdings in the
Onshore Taranaki Basin CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 27
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Independent Canadian oil and gas
exploration company TAG Oil (TSX-V: TAO; OTCBB: TAGOF) announced
today the acquisition of new properties in the proven Taranaki
Basin, New Zealand. TAG Oil Ltd., in a 50/50 Joint Venture with
partner Austral Pacific Energy Ltd., has acquired all the onshore
New Zealand assets of Australian-based Tap Oil Limited. The
acquisition has further increased TAG's working interest in three
of eight existing TAG permits within the onshore Taranaki, as well
as adding strategic new acreage in six additional onshore permits.
Drilling and completion inventory was also acquired by the Joint
Venture. All new lands are exploration permits with the exception
of PMP 38153, a production permit known as the Kahili Mining
License. According to Drew Cadenhead, CEO of TAG Oil: "The lands
acquired from Tap are contiguous with our existing focus in the
production fairway of onshore Taranaki. We're happy to increase our
interest in existing projects like our SuppleJack gas/condensate
project. Since Christmas, we have more than doubled our net acreage
in this key area from 30,000 acres to 66,000 acres." "We are at a
much higher working interest in our 3-D seismically defined
Waitoriki deep gas prospect scheduled to be drilled later this
year, and we've added a number of new deep gas prospects, including
an upcoming well within the Kahili Mining License. In 2002, Austral
and its JV partners made an exciting discovery with the Kahili-1
well which flowed significant quantities of gas, but once put into
full time production, it unexpectedly stopped producing. Newly
acquired seismic has led to an updip location planned for later
this year. NGC, a major gas infrastructure company in New Zealand
built a production facility on this Permit for the Kahili-1 well,
which now sits idle and will provide immediate market access for
any new discoveries," Mr. Cadenhead concluded. Completion of the
Tap acquisition is subject to MED approval. An update on TAG Oil
interests in the Taranaki Basin can be found at the following link,
on the company's website:
http://www.tagoil.com/oil-natural-gas-operations/taranaki-oil-gas-
operations.asp. An updated overview of all TAG Oil holdings can be
found at http://www.tagoil.com/oil-natural-gas-operations . About
TAG Oil: TAG Oil Ltd. is an independent Canadian oil and gas
exploration company with a well-balanced portfolio of assets in and
around the Canterbury and Taranaki basins of New Zealand. This
regional focus supports the Company's mandate to explore in
countries with low political risk and low government taxation,
through the establishment of a portfolio of both high risk/high
reward exploration projects and low risk/moderate reward acreage in
producing basins. With exploration permits totaling 4,133,576 gross
acres (net 1,535,935) TAG Oil is one of the largest holders of
prospective acreage in New Zealand. TAG Oil trades on the TSX
Venture Exchange (TSX-V) with the ticker symbol TAO, and on the
OTCBB with the symbol TAGOF. More information is available on the
Company's website at: http://www.tagoil.com/. Forward Looking
Statements: Statements contained in this news release that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve
various risks and uncertainty affecting the business of TAG Oil.
Actual results may vary materially from the information provided in
this release. As a result there is no representation by TAG Oil
that actual results realized in the future will be the same in
whole or in part as those presented herein. Actual results may
differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results
should not be considered as an indication of future performance.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements are set forth in
filings that the Company has made, including the Company's most
recent reports in Canada under National Instrument 51-102 and in
the United States under Forms 20-F and 6K. The TSX Venture Exchange
has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release. DATASOURCE: TAG Oil Ltd.
CONTACT: Jeanette Long, +1-866-526-2650, ext. 710, or , for TAG Oil
Ltd. Web site: http://www.tagoil.com/
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