Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister of Energy and Resources

25 May 2010 Media Statement

Major petroleum project begins

The government today announced a major two-year work programme aimed at promoting oil and gas exploration around New Zealand.

Crown Minerals has contracted GNS Science to deliver the $7.6 million Petroleum Exploration and Geosciences Initiative (PEGI) Project – a suite of individual projects focused on improving knowledge of New Zealand’s petroleum potential. The initiative is funded by the Crown Minerals data acquisition fund and builds upon GNS Science research funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee says investment to improve knowledge of New Zealand’s petroleum resources is one of the key actions of the government’s Petroleum Action Plan.

“The PEGI Project will supplement the seismic data acquisition the Crown is presently undertaking,” Mr Brownlee said.

“Providing better information about New Zealand’s petroleum resources will increase the attractiveness of investing in exploration for local and foreign companies.

“This government is determined to see New Zealand realise the benefits of its petroleum resources. The focus must first be on increasing exploration activity in our frontier basins.”

The PEGI Project involves a range of evaluations and upgrades to knowledge about the Taranaki region, which in turn feeds into understanding of other, less explored basins. Each project delivers a tool or database that reduces some aspect of geological risk associated with uncertainty in exploration.

The project will use Google Earth to establish a pilot metadata visualisation network that covers New Zealand’s territory out to the newly extended continental shelf limit. Google Earth will be used to display information about offshore geological, geophysical and geographical datasets, ensuring the information is readily and freely available to potentially interested parties around the globe.

ENDS

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