Wairarapa oil up for grabs | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Much of Wairarapa's coastline is set to be offered up to the petroleum industry to be explored for oil and natural gas.

A new policy announced yesterday sees the Government annually making set land and sea areas available to the petroleum and mineral industries for five-year exploration permits.

Previously industry players asked to set the areas they want to explore.

Three of the more than 20 zones around New Zealand being proposed for offer this year are off the coast of Wairarapa.

The first, 12EC2 or 2012 East Coast 2, begins close to 9km offshore from Castlepoint and continues northwest past Akitio.

The second and third, 12PEG1 and 12PEG2, named for the Pegasus Basin, cover the seabed off the South Wairarapa coast, beginning just past the 19km limit to New Zealand's territorial waters.

The "block offers" are still subject to consultation with iwi and local government.

If oil or natural gas is found, the Government will take 42 per cent of the profits.

Kevin Rolens, director of petroleum for Petroleum and Minerals New Zealand, said the Wairarapa blocks had been reserved from exploration for some years while the Government investigated their potential.

"We needed to inform ourselves; we do have an early appreciation of their potential."

Any exploration would be "very expensive" Mr Rolens said, and required "someone with deep pockets".

He said $100 million had been spent on the Great South Basin block below Stewart Island, although drilling had yet to begin.

Companies would need to be counting "in the millions of barrels of oil" to make their investment worthwhile.

"It's using other people's money to explore New Zealand's oil and mineral potential," Mr Rolens said.

"In the success case, we clip a nice ticket."

Masterton Mayor Garry Daniell said the opportunities for Wairarapa were exciting.

"While I would certainly understand that great care would be needed, there's potential for [profit] to come ashore in Wairarapa and provide the basis for a new industry," he said.

"I understand from a theoretical point of view that off the Wairarapa coast has considerable potential for petroleum and for methane hydrates [a form of natural gas]."

Castlepoint Station owner Anders Crofoot said the oil industry might bring "a few more jobs" to Castlepoint and "be beneficial for Masterton also".

"I don't see a downside; you do have the occasional disasters but even those things actually get recovered from - and with recent things they've learned where not to take shortcuts."

South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples was more cautious and said that a debate would be needed about the "pros and cons".

"These things are contentious," Mrs Staples said, commenting on potential environmental side-effects.

"On the other hand, the oil industry in Taranaki has made a real difference to that area.

"We desperately could do with something like this, but we need a wide-ranging public debate."

Jason Kerehi, chief executive of Rangitane o Wairarapa iwi authority, is expecting to receive information about the petroleum block offers but had yet to be approached by the Ministry of Economic Development.