NZOG relinquishes last remaining license outside Taranaki

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) has relinquished the Toroa petroleum exploration permit, the final permit located outside of the Taranaki Basin.

The Toroa permit, or as it is precisely named – Petroleum Exploration Permit 55794, contains the Kaipatiki prospect and is the last of NZOG’s domestic exploration permits.

This comes after NZOG and partner Beach Energy applied to relinquish the deepwater Petroleum Exploration Permit 52717 otherwise known as Clipper – also located outside of the Taranaki Basin. Following this relinquishment, no company will hold a permit outside Taranaki.

NZOG chief executive Andrew Jefferies said: “PEP 55794 is the last of our New Zealand exploration permits. The same confluence of events that led us to relinquish our Clipper permit – adverse regulatory settings for offshore exploration, the dry hole at OMV’s Tawhaki permit, the recent announcement terminating Wherry-1 drilling, and the effects of COVID on drill rig costs and availability have caught the Toroa permit in the same perfect storm.

“We have exhausted all avenues to find a potential partner to progress drilling this acreage and so reluctantly relinquish.

“We remain active in New Zealand at the Kupe gas field in Taranaki and look forward to the start-up of our compression project there late this year. At a time of low hydro levels and tight gas supply in New Zealand Kupe is a standout performer, reducing coal consumption, cooking our excellent South Island Salmon, and helping renewables keep the lights on”.

Chief executive of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) John Carnegie added that this was a further blow to New Zealand’s energy security.

“A successful find could have helped lower emissions here in New Zealand and around the world by replacing coal for industrial use and electricity generation. Just last month it was announced the Huntly power station is bringing a third coal-fired electricity unit out of storage due in part to looming shortages in the gas market. This is a worrying foretaste of the future.

“New Zealand was once considered a top frontier destination for exploration and development but is no longer seen as a place to invest. A new field could have created thousands of jobs and earned the government tens of billions in taxes and royalties“.

It is worth reminding that the government of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern banned new oil and gas exploration permits in the country back in 2018.