Green light for Tararua oil drilling

LUCY TOWNEND
Last updated 17:00 18/03/2013

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Horizons Regional Council has approved two consents for North American energy companies Tag Oil Ltd and Apache Corporation to drill exploratory wells in Tararua.

The regional council said yesterday afternoon the consents for a proposed four-week period of 24-hour drilling on a Mangahei Rd property, 17 kilometres east of Dannevirke, and one at Ngapaeruru Rd, 2km further east, had been passed.

The Tararua District Council signed off the "above-ground work" last month.

At this stage, fracking - also known as hydraulic fracturing, an oil and gas drilling technique where fluid-containing chemicals and sand are injected into rocks to break them up - does not form any part of the activity for the consents approved by Horizons.

Tag and Apache plan to spend up to $100 million in pursuit of a 14-billion-barrel windfall on three sprawling East Coast properties covering 680,000 hectares.

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- © Fairfax NZ News

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