OIA Offshore Resource Exploration (1960–1980)

Tēnā koe Tracy,

 

Thank you for your Official Information Act request. MBIE has undertaken an initial assessment of the scope of your request and, before progressing further, we seek your assistance to refine it so that we can provide a response.

 

Several elements of the request, as currently framed, are very broad and relate to activity dating back more than 40–60 years. As a result, parts of the request would likely require substantial manual research across physical archives, legacy systems, and public archives, and may be refused under section 18(f) of the Act unless the scope can be narrowed. To assist you, we have outlined below where refinement may be helpful and identified relevant publicly available sources.

 

1. Offshore oil and gas exploration activities (1960–1980)
This part of your request is framed broadly in relation to exploration “activities” rather than specific permits, operations, or projects. Determining what information may exist (particularly Cabinet papers or ministerial briefings) would itself require substantial research, and it is unlikely such records exist at a general activity level.

 

If you wish to pursue this aspect, it would be helpful if you could specify particular permits, companies, or exploration programmes of interest.

 

2. Resource identification and assessment information
Much of the information you are seeking relating to geological surveys, technical assessments, and resource identification is publicly available through the New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals Geodata Catalogue. You may wish to review this information to determine whether any further material you seek is not already publicly accessible: https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/maps-geoscience/geoscience-data/. Please note that information that is publicly available will be refused under section 18(d) of the Act.

 

3. Agreements and foreign involvement / inter‑agency coordination
Information relating to strategic relationship management with domestic and international entities from this period is likely to have been transferred to Archives New Zealand in accordance with MBIE’s records retention and disposal schedule, given the age of the material. If you are seeking specific agreements, entities, or jurisdictions, further narrowing would assist us in determining what information MBIE may still hold.

 

4. Decision‑making and oversight
During the period you have identified, petroleum exploration and extraction in New Zealand was primarily governed by the Petroleum Act 1937 and associated regulations. Publicly available legislation and regulatory material from this period may address your questions about how exploration rights were granted in general.

 

If you are interested in decision‑making relating to specific permits or licences, please identify those permits so we can assess what information may be held.

 

Next steps
If you are willing to refine your request by narrowing the timeframe, identifying specific permits, operations or entities, we would be pleased to reconsider the scope and progress your request accordingly. Alternatively, you may wish to prioritise particular parts of your request.

 

Please note that if your refined request is still too broad, we may need to refine it further before we can respond.

 Ngā mihi

 Linda

 Linda Anderson (She/her)

Senior Advisor, BRM Ministerial Services

Office of the Deputy Secretary, Building Resources and Markets (BRM)

Ministry of Buisness, Innovation and Employment, Hīkina Whakatutuki

[email protected] | Phone: +64 4 913 3945

15 Stout Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140, New Zealand