VANCOUVER, Oct. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX: TAO) and
(OTCQX:
TAOIF), announces that unconventional oil and gas specialists
Stephen
L. Dutnell, P.E. and David B. Cornue
P.G., C.H.M.M., have joined the
Company's operational team on a long-term contract basis. Mr.
Dutnell
and Mr. Cornue will be based in TAG's newly established
operational
base in the city of Napier on the East Coast of New Zealand's North
Island.
TAG is pursuing the major unconventional resource potential that
has
been demonstrated by TAG's extensive geotechnical studies and
the
results of the Ngapaeruru-1 well, drilled in spring, which
intersected
155 meters of unconventional oil-and-gas pay in the source rock.
The
addition of Mr. Dutnell and Mr. Cornue to the Company's
operational
team, and TAG's newly established East Coast office, will
facilitate
TAG's expanding operational plans and drilling activity, with a
goal of
establishing the East Coast Basin's first unconventional oil and
gas
production.
Both Mr. Dutnell and Mr. Cornue are highly respected senior
petroleum
and environmental experts, with extensive experience in all facets
of
unconventional oil and gas exploration and development. Their
collective 57 years of petroleum experience includes work in
many
unconventional oil and gas developments in the United States, including
the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Marcellus and Utica Shale plays.
David B. Cornue
Mr. Cornue obtained his Master of Science degree from State University
of New York, Stony Brook, and his BA in Geology from the
University of
Maine. He has managed, performed, or contributed to
numerous
unconventional oil and gas projects, including the preparation
of
several environmental manuals specific to oil and gas
development
prepared for the Department of Energy, National Energy
Technology
Laboratory, and also the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact
Commission.
Since 2009 he has represented the Independent Oil and Gas
Association
of New York in preparing and
presenting their formal commentary
regarding new regulations applicable to unconventional development.
And
in February 2012, he was instrumental
in a report prepared for the New
Zealand Ministry of Economic Development and the Institute of
Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS Science) for
onshore
unconventional exploration in New
Zealand.
Stephen L. Dutnell
Mr. Dutnell has more than 25 years of petroleum related experience.
He
obtained his B.S. Petroleum Engineering from the University of
Louisiana - Lafayette in 1983, and is a registered
Professional
Engineer in the states of Oklahoma, New
York, and Ohio. Most
recently,
Mr. Dutnell has provided technical support in the permitting of
over
100 vertical and horizontal oil and gas wells drilled or to be
drilled
in the Utica and Marcellus Shale unconventional plays in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
the state of Ohio.
TAG Oil Ltd.
TAG Oil Ltd. (http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian-based
production and exploration company with
operations focused exclusively in New
Zealand. With 100% ownership over
all its core assets, including extensive oil and gas production
infrastructure, TAG is enjoying significant organic value
creation
through development and appraisal drilling of several light oil and
gas
discoveries and through prospect generation across and
extensive
acreage position. As New Zealand's
leading explorer, TAG actively
drills high-impact conventional and unconventional exploration
prospects identified in the Taranaki Basin, East Coast Basin
and
Canterbury Basin that covers more
than 2,669,780 net acres of land,
prospective for major discovery in New
Zealand.
Cautionary Note Regarding 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. Such statements can
be
generally, but not always, identified by words such as
"expects",
"plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "forecasts",
"schedules", "prepares", "potential" and similar expressions, or
that
events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should"
occur.
These statements are based on certain factors and assumptions
including
all estimates and statements that describe the Company's
objectives,
goals, production rates, optimization, infrastructure capacity and
or
future plans relating to the drilling programs in the East Coast
Basins
are forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws
and
necessarily involve risks and uncertainties including, without
limitation: risks associated with oil and gas exploration,
development,
exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, volatility
of
commodity prices, imprecision of reserve estimates and
production
guidance, environmental risks, competition from other producers,
and
changes in the regulatory and taxation environment. These
forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and
assumptions, including factors and assumptions regarding the
management's views on the oil and gas potential in TAG's permits,
well
performance and production rates, the success of any
operations,
completing infrastructure and the costs necessary to complete
the
operations.
TAG Oil is involved in the exploration for and production of
hydrocarbons, and its property holdings with the exception of the
Cheal
and Sidewinder project areas are in the grass roots or primary
exploration stage. Exploration for hydrocarbons is a
speculative
venture necessarily involving substantial risk. There is no
certainty
that the expenditures incurred on TAG Oil's exploration properties
will
result in discoveries of commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.
TAG
Oil's future success in exploiting and increasing its current
reserve
base will depend on TAG Oil's ability to develop its current
properties
and on its ability to discover and acquire properties or prospects
that
are producing. There is no assurance that TAG Oil's future
exploration
and development efforts will result in the discovery or development
of
additional commercial accumulations of oil and natural
gas.Other
factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
contained
in the forward-looking statements are also set forth in filings
that
TAG and its independent evaluator have made, including TAG's
most
recently filed reports in Canada
under National Instrument 51-101,
which can be found under TAG's SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com.
TAG undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise required by law,
to
update these forward-looking statements in the event that
management's
beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors change.
SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.