NZ offers seven new areas for energy exploration

New Zealand is offering seven new areas for oil and gas exploration, most near the country’s main offshore fields, and may offer more by the end of the year, the government said yesterday.

The new blocks bring the number now on offer to 19, a record for any one time, as the country steps up the search for new supplies to replace the ageing Maui field, which has supplied up to 80 per cent of New Zealand’s natural gas but is due to run out around 2010.

Stuff