N.Z. seeks explorers for Raukumara, Northland Basins

New Zealand’s government is seeking exploration proposals for 66,000 square kilometers (25,500 square miles) of ocean off the east coast and Northland peninsula of the country’s North Island.
The government is offering two exploration permits over the Raukumara basin northeast of East Cape and six blocks west of the Northland peninsula, Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said in a statement on Wednesday. The two regions have considerable potential for oil and gas and have already attracted interest from domestic and international explorers, he said. New Zealand government scientists have been studying the country’s deepwater basins as part of a campaign to lure global explorers and expand the nation’s oil and gas output beyond the Taranaki region. Deep sediments and on and offshore oil seeps make Raukumara one of New Zealand’s “most prospective” frontier basins, according to GNS Science geologists.