Additional evidence has now been found through research conducted by a company planning to drill for gas in Fiji, that there are strong indications that oil and gas deposits do exist in the country.

The Managing Director of Akura Limited, Bill Brook has made the announcement in Nadi at a SOPAC/STAR meeting.

He confirmed that Akura could begin drilling for gas in Fiji as early as next year, subject to the necessary approvals.

Akura Limited is a largely Fiji owned company that has been given an exclusive 5 year exploration licence to search for oil over a 17 thousand 600 square kilometre area from August last year.

Brook said Akura has already identified 17 seismic sites or leads that warrant further review work with one prospect ready for drill testing.

The site located some 20 kilometres to the East of Suva indicates the presence of gas and is known as a "bright spot".

Brook said the structure has the potential to contain a minimum of 12.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas or enough to replace 50 percent of the imported diesel now used for electricity generation in Viti Levu for a decade.

However the only way to confirm this is to drill the prospect.

Brook said the identified sites were predicted on the data acquired from the Fiji Petroleum Data Package held in Canberra, which contains data collected by those who previously searched for oil in Fiji from 1969 to 1982.

Brook who has been a geologist in Fiji for 35 years and is credited with finding gold at Tuvatu, has assembled a small consultative team with extensive oil exploration, as they await approvals for drilling works to begin.

 
Story by: Vijay Narayan