New Zealand Oil & Gas has retained its southern offshore exploration permits, east of Oamaru and south of Dunedin, working with regulator New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZPM) on gaining permit extensions.
No further hydrographic work has been signalled, for the Clipper and Galleon prospects, off Oamaru, or for Toroa, south of Dunedin, in NZOG's quarterly report to June, released yesterday.
NZOG said it was in "continued discussions'' with NZPM to change conditions to extend the timeframe on when a commitment must be made to drill Galleon or Clipper, or drop the permits, while at Toroa an earlier seismic survey was still undergoing interpretation.
During the quarter, $3.8million was spent on exploration, $1million on share buy-backs, foreign exchange losses were $2.5million and development costs were $3million.
NZOG had combined gas, lpg, light oil and oil sales of $29.9million for the period; including the revenues of Cue Energy, in which it has a 48.11% stake. NZOG ended the financial quarter with a cash balance of $96.8million, and no debt.
"Lower oil production was offset by a shipment at Tui [oil] and higher oil price, which increased revenue in comparison to the previous quarter,'' the company said.
Revenue included $12.9million from Kupe gas, lpg and light oil and $6.6million from Kupe oil.
NZOG has a 27.5% stake in Tui and 15% stake in Kupe oil and gas.
