'Encouraging data' on oil

Bidding has been extended for exploration licences off the Northland coast to give oil companies access to new data covering part of the area.

Bids for six permits running west from the Northland peninsula were to close on January 28 next year. That deadline has now been extended to August 18 after the government acquired seismic data over the nearby Reinga Basin, including part of the Northland basin.

"It's encouraging data," said Mark Aliprantis, petroleum manager at the Crown Minerals unit. "It's data that we think is valuable for anyone making an assessment of the geology and prospectivity of the Northland offer."

Scientists are studying the deepwater basins as part of a campaign to lure global explorers and expand the nation's oil and gas output beyond the Taranaki region. Exploration bids for the Raukumara basin, invited in December with the Northland offer, close in January as originally planned.

The Northland basin lies north of the Taranaki basin, which contains the nation's major producing fields. Aliprantis said the new seismic data should be available for bidders toward the end of this year.

- BLOOMBERG