Green Party energy spokesman Gareth Hughes said the Government was preparing to sell deep-sea oil drilling permits, including deep-water blocks off the Otago's coast, "despite the huge risks".
Included in this year's 25 block offers, yet to come up for tender, is the southern Great South Basin.
Mr Hughes said Otago residents would be "shocked" to know the Government was set to tender for deep-sea oil drilling permits off the southern coast, without asking the general public or councils what they thought.
"If there is a leak from a deep-sea oil rig, there is no easy way to stop it. The consequence for New Zealand's environment, economy and reputation would be catastrophic," he said.
He said exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin could be at depths from 1250m to 2250m, far deeper than the 1500m at which the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was working, when it exploded and spilled oil for weeks, in what became the biggest environmental disaster in the United States.
They included Environment Southland, the Gore District Council and Southland District Council. No Otago bodies were listed.
When contacted yesterday, a spokeswoman for Mr Binnie said the Otago councils were not included in consultation as their jurisdiction did not extend to any of the offshore blocks, and that any proposed work in the Great South Basin would be overseen by the Environmental Protection Authority.
Last year, the Government announced that in February this year it would drop the use of its first-in, first-served block allocation for oil and gas exploration, moving instead to a competitive tendering process. Announcements were expected towards the end of the year.
Mr Binnie, responding to Mr Hughes, said the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Bill applied to activities beyond 12 nautical miles offshore, in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
The environmental effects of deep-water exploration for oil, gas and other minerals would be regulated under the EEZ Bill, which is waiting for its third reading.
Mr Hughes said deep-water drilling should not be undertaken in New Zealand, as there was no safety guarantee.
"A deep-water oil spill would have catastrophic consequences for our environment, economy and reputation," he said. Mr Binnie's spokeswoman said yesterday the New Zealand public had had opportunities to comment on proposed legislation, including its select committee process.
Further public consultation will be undertaken shortly on the detail of the regulations under the proposed Act.
