New Zealand has received an application from a homegrown company for authorization to prospect for hydrocarbons in the offshore Canterbury Basin.

“New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals has today opened a three-month competitive process for an application submitted by CBX Energy Ltd”, said a statement posted on the government’s website Tuesday, meaning other companies can now submit plans to compete with CBX’s offer. “The proposal outlines a program of technical and economic studies, including work on a comprehensive Canterbury Basin development strategy”.

The application follows the removal of the petroleum exploration ban late 2025, after which two exploration permit applications have already undergone the competitive process and progressed to government assessment, the statement said.

“The Canterbury Basin, off the east coast of the South Island, is one of New Zealand’s 18 sedimentary basins with known or potential hydrocarbons. It has long been viewed as a promising but largely untapped opportunity”, Resources Minister Shane Jones said in the statement.

“The basin remains far less explored than comparable regions overseas, highlighting how much potential is still to be tested”.

Applications are due June 24. “A petroleum prospecting permit is an early-stage, low-impact permit that allows a company to search for evidence of petroleum/oil and gas”, the statement said.

The statement said decisions on the two pending exploration applications are expected later in 2026.

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On September 25, 2025 the government opened for applications for prospecting and exploration permits beyond the onshore Taranaki basin, and introduced the open market application pathway.

“Confidence in the gas sector took a significant hit when the exploration ban was introduced in 2018, impacting investment in our producing fields and preventing the vital new exploration needed to meet demand in the years to come”, Jones said at the time.

“This has left a gaping hole in New Zealand’s medium-term energy security, and while we continue to progress options to provide interim relief, we need to get the sector back to work to play catch-up.

“The open market application process better balances this urgency with robust competition by allowing an operator to apply for prospecting and exploration acreage as soon as they are ready. Regulator New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals will then call for competing applications over the same acreage for a period of three months, ensuring permits are granted based on the best proposed work programs and outcomes.

“Block Offer tenders are a great promotional tool that can still be utilized in the future, but right now my focus is on reviving exploration activity in new prospects and existing gas-producing reserves as soon as possible”.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com


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