The Government has granted an offshore oil and gas exploration permit after being forced to reconsider its earlier decision to decline it.
Sector regulator New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPM) initially declined an application by Greymouth Gas Turangi in March 2018, as part of its 2017 block offer.
The following month, the Government announced it would ban further offshore petroleum exploration permits.
Greymouth Gas Turangi took the matter to court and in 2020 the High Court ruled the Crown was wrong to decline the company’s 2018 application and ordered it to reconsider.
NZPM said the reconsideration of Greymouth’s application had to be carried out in accordance with the law as it was before the offshore exploration ban came into effect.
The reconsideration ruled in favour of granting the application, it said.
The permit covers a 225sq km area northeast of New Plymouth, off the Taranaki coast, for a period of 12 years.
"There are a range of additional regulatory requirements, such as applying for resource consent, that a permit holder must fulfil before drilling activities can occur," NZPM national manager for petroleum and minerals Susan Baas said.
"If Greymouth discovers commercial quantities of petroleum, they must then apply for a petroleum mining permit before carrying out any mining activity."
