Overseas interest in New Zealand oil exploration dries up

Interest in oil exploration in New Zealand dropped to a record low, despite the government's largest ever block offer this year.

Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges on Thursday revealed just one small onshore permit had been granted to a local firm in the western North Island region of Taranaki.

"The global downturn in the petroleum industry that began in late 2014 has had a profound effect on exploration expenditure worldwide," Bridges said in a statement.

"New Zealand has had a very successful run since adopting annual block offers. From 2011 to 2015 companies have invested 7.7 billion NZ dollars (5.47 billion U.S. dollars) in oil and gas exploration and production in New Zealand."

He said running annual block offers was important to provide certainty for investors, but opposition lawmakers and environment campaigners called on the government to abandon its fossil fuel strategy.

Previous block offers had usually seen 10 or more permits awarded for total areas up to 46,000 square kilometers, while this year the single permit had an area of just 219 square km, said the opposition Green Party.

"With just one local company getting a single small permit, Simon Bridges' misguided attempts to attract overseas fossil fuel investment have failed this year," said Green Party energy and resources spokesperson Gareth Hughes.

"That's good news for those of us who care about the protection of oceans, coastlines, and marine animals, and who can see the economic benefits of transitioning to clean energy," Hughes said in a statement.

"We've got oil companies giving up on New Zealand left, right and center, which goes to show the government has been backing the wrong horse."

This year, U.S. oil and gas giant Anadarko and Norway's Statoil have surrendered permits, and Brazil's Petrobras left New Zealand in 2012.

Block Offer 2016 included four offshore areas totaling 525,515 square km up for tender and one onshore area of 1,062 square km. Endit