Plans by Norwegian oil giant Statoil to explore off the Northland coast are moving closer with the visit of a top executive to the area this week and preparations for seismic work over summer.
The company says New Zealand's frontier basins fit into its policy of having long-shot prospects in its global portfolio even though another explorer, Anadarko, appears to have struck out after a $1 million-a-day campaign off New Zealand during last summer.
But Statoil - which is 67 per cent owned by the Norwegian Government and contributes to that country's $1 trillion pension fund - said it would be years before it made any decision to drill, if at all.
"We may be in the area of big oil but as of today we know very little about the region. The likely result of all the activity here is that we conclude not to drill based on technical subsurface reasons," said the company's vice-president of exploration, Pal Haremo.