Shell has joined the hunt for oil in the Great South Basin and is ready for any protest action that may target new exploration.

Developing greater access to irrigation is critical to our economic prosperity and the private sector will likely play a big part.

The operator of the Tui offshore Taranaki oil and gas field says probable reserves are between nine and 11 million barrels of oil short of the 50.5 million barrels previously thought.

World markets were up overnight, as positive debt reports came out of the United States and Europe.