Australian energy company Melbana said Monday it was anticipating drilling success closer to home in New Zealand while keeping its eye on Cuban reserves. Melbana, which rebranded itself last year through a name change from MEO Australia, said it was planning to drill at the Pukatea-1 prospect onshore New Zealand during the third quarter. According to Melbana, Pukatea is a “low-cost [and] commercially robust” drilling opportunity with an estimated 12.4 million barrels of oil equivalents in prospective reserves. Oil is the fourth-largest export for New Zealand, bringing in around $700 million each year in royalties and taxes. The government said there are around 149 million barrels of oil reserves remaining in fields already in production. Elsewhere, […]