Just one oil and gas exploration tender has been granted by the Government, reflecting the increasing exodus of companies and reduction in exploration.
Following block offer 2016 by permitting agency New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals, one onshore Taranaki permit was granted to Todd Energy.
Shell, in the process of global restructuring for the past year, is yet to confirm its intentions for its New Zealand assets while Brazilian giant Petrobras, Norwegian explorer and producer Statoil and Mobil have all abandoned prospects in the past two years.
Houston-based Anadarko dropped a Taranaki permit and more recently one off the Wairarapa coast, but is seeking a year-long extension to its deep-water permit off Oamaru, and retains an interest in the New Caledonia basin, northwest of Northland.
While New Zealand has many prospective deep-water basins, it is considered to be "frontier" exploration, which is the most expensive, at upwards of $US100million ($NZ140million) for a single test hole programme.
Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges said the global petroleum industry downturn, which began in late 2014, had a "profound effect on exploration expenditure worldwide".
"Global bid rounds such as New Zealand’s block offer continue, though they are currently attracting lower interest and work plan commitments," he said in a statement yesterday.
The diminishing interest in fossil fuel exploration has been welcomed by environmentalists, Greenpeace and the Green Party, which recently highlighted no new oilfields had been identified during the past eight years.
Under National, revenue from oil and gas exploration and production has since its first term been deemed the cornerstone for economic recovery in the wake of the 2007-08 Global Financial Crisis.
Mr Bridges said from 2011 to 2015 companies had invested $7.7billion in oil and gas exploration and production around New Zealand.
"Exploration continues despite the downturn and has resulted in New Zealand’s largest onshore and offshore 3-D data surveys being undertaken in one year," he said.
