L&M Coal Seam Gas Ltd managing director Kent Anson, of Wellington, said it was too early to know whether his company would seek resource consent for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract petroleum resources, but in any event it was unlikely to be within the Dunedin city boundaries.
Three oil and gas exploration permits have been granted by the Government for territory north and south of Dunedin. The permit north of Warrington has only recently been granted; the offshore permit south of Dunedin is about to expire; while L&M holds a permit for land south of Dunedin and is conducting its first coal-seam gas test-drilling near Kaitangata.
L&M Coal Seam Gas Ltd has a permit covering 746sq km of land that takes in Kaitangata, Milton, Lake Waihola and Henley but excludes Taieri Mouth. The permit, granted in 2001, gives the company a right to oil, gas, coal seam gas and LPG resources within that area until August 2014.
Mr Anson said extraction methods would not be determined until "we find a resource worth pursuing".
Despite holding a permit that included land within the city boundaries, the company was focusing on the Kaitangata area and was "unlikely to explore closer to Dunedin", he said.
Asked whether he was surprised or concerned by the public interest in fracking, Mr Anson said the public had "every right to inquire about what's going on in their community".
Rawson Taranaki Ltd and Zeanco (NZ) Ltd are joint shareholders in a permit covering 4716sq km of equal amounts of onshore and offshore territory stretching from just north of Warrington to just south of Waimate.
The permit, granted for five years in November 2010, gives a right to oil, coal-seam gas, condensate, LPG and gas resources.
A Ministry of Economic Development (MED) spokeswoman said the permit was at a "very early stage".
The Star has been unable to contact representatives of Rawson and Zeanco.
A partnership of four companies, including Shell GSB Ltd, holds a gas, oil, LPG and condensate exploration permit covering 33,499sq km of almost entirely offshore territory immediately south of Dunedin.
Fracking offshore was highly unlikely, the Wellington-based MED spokeswoman said.
The five-year permit expires in July.
Otago Regional Council director of resource management Selva Selvarajah said the council had not received any resource management consent applications for fracking.
"If we did receive any applications for fracking activities, we would proceed very cautiously," he said. "We would engage the best experts in fracking to assess such applications."
Based on the information he had received, Dr Selvarajah did not have any serious concerns about fracking.
He noted the industry supported the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's investigation of fracking.
Commissioner Jan Wright said there was a "substantive case for an official investigation" and hoped to have a report to Parliament before the end of the year.
