Prime Minister John Key has defended new oil and gas exploration permits in a major conservation park, saying it is not a National Park and mining already takes place there.

Net oil imports to the US could fall to zero by 2037 because of robust production in areas including North Dakota and Texas's Eagle Ford formation.

Z Energy's boss says petrol consumption is falling in relation to increasing availability of broadband, which means people aren't popping in their cars for visits anymore.

The fog was just beginning to lift on the Houston Ship Channel on March 22 as a bulk carrier and a fuel barge found themselves on a crash course.

A power company is offering the chance to pay all household costs in one bill - but consumer groups warn the convenience may come at a cost.

In 1945 Jan Arps published a formula, which has become one of the most widely used measures, to predict how much crude oil a well will produce.

The government has opened eight new areas for oil and gas exploration in its 2014 Block Offer, unveiled by Energy Minister Simon Bridges.

An attempt to have the Court of Appeal order the liquidation of Greymouth Petroleum was described by one of the judges hearing the appeal as a tactic to "extort."

Boart Longyear has posted a steep loss and says it will review its operations after having slashed almost 3500 jobs in the past year.

Australian-listed Origin Energy is bullish on the potential of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Caraval prospect off the coast of Oamaru.

Campaigners are out to hit the fossil fuel industry where it hurts, by making it an unacceptable place to invest. Peter Huck reports

In the socialist state of Venezuela that is home to the world's largest oil and gas reserves, petrol is cheaper than water. But not for much longer.

United States oil company Anadarko says its first New Zealand deep sea exploration well failed to find commercial quantities of oil or natural gas.

American oil company Anadarko says its maiden New Zealand deep sea exploration well failed to find commercial quantities of oil or natural gas.

West Texas Intermediate sustained its biggest weekly gain of the year as freezing temperatures in the US boosted demand for heating oil.

Labour's Shane Jones has used the rat-cunning skills that got him to the top of Maori fishing politics to manoeuvre his boss, David Cunliffe, into adopting new realism on offshore oil and gas exploration.

Big international oil and gas recruitment company Air Energi is moving into New Zealand in what is being described as a vote of confidence in the sector here.

The rewards may be infinite, but a fresh wave of oil exploration in our coastal waters also brings potential for environmental ruin.

Revelations that a "worst-case" oil well blowout in New Zealand waters could take five weeks to plug.

A ''rapid response'' team of up to 260 people has been set up to take to the water to hinder Anadarko's deep-sea drilling operations.

Oil and gas exploration plans such as Shell's for Southland should be subject to the rigours of a public hearing, writes Gary Taylor.

The first taste of petroleum money could be just weeks away in Dunedin, as oil giant Anadarko prepares to move its drilling ship into Otago waters.

Editorial: Just a year ago, the prospects for oil and gas exploration in this country looked bleak. It is particularly welcome, hence, that Shell has announced it will drill an exploratory well in the Great South Basin.