Petroleum and minerals

New Zealand has enormous potential for discovery, with GNS Science noting that it has a "number of geological structures capable of holding giant oil and gas fields".

The country is experiencing an exploration growth phase. As a result of  increased activity, royalties collected by the Crown for oil, gas and mining increased by 470 percent in the 2009 financial year. The sector is supported by a government that has a clear ambition to close New Zealand's economic gap with Australia, and is pragmatic and supportive toward investment in petroleum and minerals.

New Zealand's exclusive economic zone, covering about four million square kilometers, is the fourth largest in the world. The country has a wealth of opportunities in an operating environment that was in 2011 ranked number three by the World Bank for ease of doing business, making New Zealand's exploration potential hard to ignore.

With New Zealand's proven expertise in pioneering practices with low impact on the natural environment, exciting opportunities exist for the right organizations across a broad range of natural resources.

The Great South Basin spans 360,000 square kilometres of ocean, south of New Zealand. This remote and often wild area is New Zealand's biggest, most prospective sedimentary basin. The area has been seismically quiet for 50 million years and there is a high chance petroleum has remained within trap structures: there is huge oil and gas potential.GNS Science

Current opportunities

Opportunities are available in:

Petroleum

The Taranaki Basin located off the west coast of the North Island is the main focus for oil and gas exploration and production in New Zealand. Our petroleum resources are, however, largely under-explored and represent a potentially vast, untapped resource. The Government's work in acquiring seismic data for frontier basins is helping open up new areas of exploration, which are attracting international interest and investment.

Iron sand

New Zealand holds an iron sand (titanomagnetite) resource in the billions of tones. Deposits occur in marine and estuarine sediments extending over a 480-kilometre long coastal section of the North Island's west coast. It is arguably the largest iron ore resource in the Southern Hemisphere and is potentially cheaply and easily uplifted. These deposits are attracting growing international interest with increased permit activity over the last few years.

Unconventional energy

Methane hydrates and coal bed methane are emerging energy resources in New Zealand. The country's methane hydrates endowment is potentially one of the largest in the world, with the most commercially promising deposits, the Hikurangi Margin, covering around 50,000 square kilometers. Coal bed methane is thought to be contained in much of New Zealand's estimated 15 billion tones of coal resource.

Coal and lignite

Approximately five million tones of coal is produced out of New Zealand, about half of which is bituminous coal, suitable for coking due to its low ash and low sulphur levels. There are 21 operating coal mines in New Zealand - mostly opencast. Lignite is New Zealand's largest fossil fuel energy resource. The main deposits are well known, with technically and economically recoverable quantities in the 10 largest deposits established at over six billion tones. Our lignite deposits are globally competitive, being generally large, shallow, and low in ash and sulphur.

Gold

New Zealand's gold resource is produced commercially from two hard rock mines located in Waihi in the upper North Island and Macraes Flat in the South Island, as well as from a number of small and medium sized alluvial operations. The sector is experiencing buoyant conditions in New Zealand, with significant exploration activity. In the 08/09 financial year there was a surge in gold production in New Zealand, with mines delivering their highest gold production since 1970.

Other minerals

New Zealand has a vast number of minerals, such as silver and lithium and non-metallic minerals, phosphates, clays, pounamu (jade), pumice and silica. The country's minerals are produced for local and export markets.

These are some of the investment areas where opportunities are currently available in New Zealand. Please note that these opportunities are not endorsed or recommended by NZTE, and may be updated from time to time. Investors are advised to contact our New Zealand-based Investment Specialist to discuss further and to conduct their own due diligence and independent advice on the relevant investment, before committing to any investment.

Key Government agencies

New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals is responsible for managing New Zealand's petroleum and minerals estate.