Oil and gas exploration in the Great South Basin continues to expand. Oil sector services giant Schlumberger has applied for a prospecting permit to explore 446,129sq km of southern seabed.
The New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals permit site shows Schlumberger, the biggest supplier of technology, project management and information technology to the oil and gas sector worldwide, applied for the permit on September 30.
Schlumberger did not respond to calls and emails yesterday. It was understood the company would undertake shipborne hydrographic seismic testing. The data would be sold to other companies, as opposed to Schlumberger moving to test drilling.
Schlumberger employs about 126,000 people in more than 85 countries. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange at $US97 per share. In 2013, it reported revenues from all operations at $US45.27 billion ($NZ57.59 billion).
The unproven Great South Basin is considered a ''frontier'' prospecting area for oil and gas, but limited test drilling from the 1980s to March this year has not uncovered any commercially viable quantities of oil or gas.
Houston-based drilling giant Anadarko is expected to make a decision by early November on whether it will drill again 60km north of Dunedin, or by regulation, drop the permit holding.
Anadarko's corporate affairs manager for New Zealand, Alan Seay, confirmed yesterday all data from the March test drilling had been analysed and a decision was due in about a fortnight.
''We're waiting to hear from Houston on what the next step of the programme will be.''
In May, Anadarko was granted a five-year extension to its exploration permit in the Canterbury Basin, north of the Great South Basin.
