A public relations push to get New Zealanders on board with oil exploration is being signalled by the public and private sectors at the Petroleum Summit in Wellington today.

The Ministry of Economic Development has put 23 exploration blocks, mainly offshore, up for tender in its annual tender round.

A claim the East Coast could become "the Texas of the south" is an overstatement, a local oil exploration expert says.

Next month, Gareth Morgan will lead an expedition of 40 everyday Kiwis to Antarctica. The last of a 3-part series analyses the impact on wildlife of climate change and the race for resources.

Canadian oil company Apache has been talking up the prospects for onshore oil finds on the North Island's East Coast and is trying to play concerns about fracking and the local environment.

A high-powered group of global oil and gas exploration companies have arrived in Wellington today for a targeted push to encourage new interest in New Zealand's under-explored frontier basins.