Not a drop of oil has yet been extracted, but Nicky and Barry Gibbs are reaping some of the benefits of being in the vanguard of Dunedin's on-shore support for those exploring for oil.
Their company, Dunedin Shipping Supplies, is provedore to the seismic ships that have spent the past three summers working off the Otago coast.
Mrs Gibbs says she and her husband dealt with three visits over the summer and were "run off their feet" organising everything from cleaners to engineers.
"It's always so hair-raising. You never know what they are going to ask for."
The ships are usually in port for no more than 24 hours and sometimes for as little as 12.
Mr Gibbs estimated each visit was worth more than $100,000 to the collection of Dunedin businesses that provided food and other goods or services.
During the final visit for the summer of the 73m seismic ship Bergen Resolution, the owners required a signwriter to change its name to Reflect Resolution, engineers to fix a damaged tender craft and carpet layers to lay new carpet - a job completed early in the morning.
Mrs Gibbs said Dunedin contractors had "bent over backwards" to provide their services at unusual hours andat short notice.
"The businesses in Dunedin have just been fantastic.
"One of the first questions we ask is `Can you do it in this time?'"And the majority of them will just say `Yes we can do that'.
"And they'll drop everything."
Mrs Gibbs said money was less of an issue for the oil companies than service.
"Service is the key. Service, for us, is 100%.
"That's what we have to provide and that's what we try to build our business on."
Two companies, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Origin Energy, are doing the seismic testing and in February announced they were considering drilling one hole 65km from Dunedin at a cost of up to $100 million.
A decision is expected in August.
Mr and Mrs Gibbs have a prime office location on the Fryatt St wharf, in a warehouse leased from Port Otago, and are already dealing with the rig that would do the drilling.
They planned to develop their contacts further by visiting oil industry staff in their New Plymouth offices during the quieter winter months.
"We want to make sure, if it does happen, we've already done our groundwork."
Mrs Gibbs was optimistic the drilling would go ahead.
"I would say, with the amount of activity that has been happening out here, that they're not going to spend money like that unless there's something."
