The upcoming budget will include $20 million over three years to fund a seismic survey programme to encourage oil and gas exploration, Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said today.
The renewed survey programme will be run by Crown Minerals.
"This work will increase data acquisition and processing of marine seismic surveys of the earth's subsurface geology," Mr Brownlee said.
"Petroleum exploration and investment companies can then use the data to assess the oil and gas potential of frontier basins." The funding was promised during the election campaign and Mr Brownlee said previous surveys had resulted in $1.4 billion being spent on exploration by oil companies mainly in the Great South Basin.
Doing the survey work and making it freely available had led to the oil exploration industry taking a greater interest in New Zealand, he said.
The discovery of oil and gas fields is a lucrative business for the Government as it yields royalties and corporate tax with the Kupe and Maari fields expected to provide $1.5 billion for the Crown over their lifetime.
