Photo: ODT filesThe hunt for oil and gas off the east coast of the South Island has been dealt a major blow. New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and its Australian partner, Beach Energy, will surrender an exploration permit for a large area they hoped held the prospect of a significant find. A combination of circumstances had killed off the chances of exploration of the Clipper permit, which included the highly favoured Barque prospect. However, Beach has relinquished exploration permits for other areas off the South Canterbury coast. Jeffries said he expected further offshore exploration permits would be handed back.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 16, 2021 04:41 UTC