Minimal interest in offshore oil and gas exploration permits three months after ban lifted

Tuesday, 20 January 2026

The Government has received only one application for a new offshore oil and gas exploration permit, three months after overturning the previous exploration ban and opening the door to applicants.

Virtually as soon as applications opened in October, a start-up based in Adelaide, Enzed Energy, applied for a permit to prospect for hydrocarbons in a 546 square-kilometre zone bordering the coast south of Hawera.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment didn’t receive any competing bids to explore the zone from other candidates by a deadline which expired on Friday, meaning any right to drill in the area should default to Enzed.

No other bids have been received by MBIE for any other offshore acreage, although US-owned company Jetex has used the new permitting regime to apply for a licence to drill two wells targeting coal seam gas on land, near Huntly in the Waikato.

Resources Minister Shane Jones declined to comment on the lack of applicants for offshore exploration permits to date.

A spokesperson for Enzed said it wasn’t yet the right time to talk about its interest in the permit area as there was still a process to go through before it was granted an exploration licence.

“We think only after that point would it be opportune to talk,” they said.