Projects

PMP 38160, Maari, New Zealand

Horizon Interest: 26.00% direct working interest, ~28.9% effective interest including Horizon’s proportionate interest through Cue

Asset Overview

Maari, New Zealand, 26%
JV: OMV (69% – Operator), Cue Energy (5%)
Maari crude continues to attract strong premiums with a weighted average premium to dated Brent of ~US$4.4/bbl for the year
Cash operating costs for the full year at ~US$26/bbl produced (excluding workover costs)

Recent Highlights

During FY26, Horizon’s direct working-interest production was 446,857 barrels, with sales of 383,542 barrels generating US$32.7 million of production revenue
The five-yearly maintenance shutdown was completed in March 2026. MN1 returned to production in early May following a workover, and an MR3 workover commenced in June following a downhole pump failure
The Maari permit has been extended to December 2037, supporting continued production, future development planning and orderly decommissioning
Subsurface, reservoir and drilling studies continue in support of potential future development opportunities

Background

The Maari oil field is New Zealand’s largest producing oil field. It lies 80 km off the south Taranaki coast in 100 m water depth. Oil is produced from the production wells located on a wellhead platform (Tiro Tiro Moana) and piped to a floating production and storage vessel, the FPSO Raroa, anchored 1.5 km away. Every three months or so the oil is offloaded to tankers for transportation to refineries in Australia and South-East Asia.

In 2003, Horizon acquired a 10% participating interest in the PEP 38413 exploration licence (the predecessor to the PMP 38160 development licence) which contained the Maari and Manaia discoveries. Project FID was taken in 2005 on the basis of 50 million barrels of estimated reserves and an expected 10 to 15-year field life, and production began in February 2009 from six wells in the primary Maari Moki reservoir.

In September 2009, the MR9 well was drilled into the M2A formation found 50 metres above the main Maari Moki oil bearing sands, and a maximum monthly field rate of over 29,000 bopd gross was achieved. In October 2010, production started from an 8km extended reach well (MN1) which was drilled from the Maari wellhead platform to appraise and produce from the Manaia Mangahewa in the previous year.

In 2014/15, the Maari Growth Project saw the drilling of four new sidetracked production wells which increased the field’s monthly field rate back to above 15,000 bopd.

In November 2017, Horizon increased its interest in the project to 26% through the 16% purchase of the Todd holding for US$13.1 million (net aggregate payment at completion).

Currently, there are eight production wells exploiting four different reservoir intervals, and three water injection wells servicing the Maari Moki reservoir. Monthly average field rates have stabilized at above 5,000 bopd.

In 2019, OMV New Zealand announced the intended divestment of its 69% interest in the Maari field to Jadestone Energy. In 2022, after ongoing engagement with Jadestone Energy, a mutual decision was made to no longer pursue the transaction.

In 2023, OMV again announced the intended divestment of its 69% interest in the Maari field. In December 2024 OMV announced that it will no longer pursue the sales process for OMV New Zealand Limited and that the entity will remain part of the E&P portfolio of OMV.

The PMP 38160 (Maari) licence extension received approval from New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals Department (NZPAM) for a ten-year extension, extending its term from 1 December 2027 to 1 December 2037. The extension, granted without additional work program obligations, provides the Joint Venture with sufficient time to continue economic production, mature production enhancement opportunities and plan for the orderly decommissioning of the Maari Project.