Govt clashes with oil giant

The world’s largest oil company, ExxonMobil, has taken legal action against the New Zealand government as interest grows in a huge oil and gas exploration prospect off the South Island.

Exxon’s action is the second legal stoush over the Great South Basin, embarrassing the government as it tries to run a smooth auction process for drilling permits this month.

The oil giant is one of several big oil companies the government has been trying to coax to New Zealand after Shell stopped local exploration three years ago.

These companies are considered to have the resources to drill for gas in the basin whose reserves are estimated to equal those of the Maui field when it was discovered 35 years ago.

The dispute with Exxon centres on seismic data which pinpoints the best places to drill in wild seas east and south of Stewart Island. ExxonMobil paid $US3.2 million (about $5m) for the data last year, but the government says Exxon must make it available to other oil companies interested in drilling in the basin.

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