The Govt has announced a renewed seismic survey programme to encourage oil and gas exploration around NZ. A total of $20m over three years is to be allocated to the seismic data acquisition programme run by Crown Minerals. Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee says petroleum exploration and investment companies will be able to use the data to assess the oil and gas potential of frontier basins. Brownlee notes the international oil exploration industry is showing increasing interest in NZ following initiatives to make new data freely available to companies wishing to explore here.

Crown Minerals has recently finished collecting data in Reinga Basin (west of Northland) and has contracted GNS Science to write a report and interpret the new data. The Northland and Raukumara (offshore Gisborne) blocks offers have recently been opened and Crown Minerals is targeting explorers in North America, Europe and Asia, with a view to letting acerage in early 2010.
The previous Labour-led Govt abandoned funding of data acquisition but Brownlee says the current Govt has resurrected the initiative because it is confident about the benefits it will generate. He believes the chance of uncovering areas that exhibit the components of a “petroleum system” is high. The Govt sees the potentially high rates of return as justifying the investment of taxpayers’ money despite the economic climate.

The Petroleum Exploration & Production Association has welcomed the new funding announcement. Executive Officer John Pfahlert says the investment continues a programme which has operated for the past four years, which has contributed toward investment by leading NZ-based exploration companies and their offshore partners in exploration of the Great South Basin. Pfahlert says time will tell what the response of investors to the information provided as part of the block offer will be, but he believes there will be interest from existing operators who have every incentive to continue exploring for resources in and around NZ.

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