The one-off gas exploration well was expected to cost around $80 million. PHOTO: ODT FILES

International oil giant OMV has completed drilling off the Otago coast without discovering commercial quantities of oil or gas.

OMV’s Senior Vice President, Australasia, Gabriel Selischi said it had completed the drilling of the Tawhaki-1 exploration well in the Great South Basin.

"The Tawhaki-1 exploration well was safely completed this week and preliminary indications are that there has not been a commercial-scale discovery.

"OMV will provide a further update on drilling results once analysis is complete."

The drilling team was currently preparing to plug and abandon the well.

The team aboard the COSL Prospector drill ship had this summer been drilling an $80million exploratory well at the Tawhaki-1 site, 146km southeast of Balclutha.

The drilling hit a snag late last month when it accidentally cut its own drill pipe when a blowout preventer — a device used to seal gas or oil wells and prevent hydrocarbons escaping — was mistakenly activated.

A source told the Otago Daily Times the mistake would have cost the company millions.

Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Amanda Larsson said today's news would be welcomed by people across the country who have grown increasingly concerned about OMV’s New Zealand drilling programme.

"This is fantastic news for the climate and for the precious wildlife that calls the Great South Basin home.

"The communities along the Otago Coast and the threatened and endangered sea creatures that live there are now safe from further oil development."

Ms Larsson said the news meant the future of deep sea oil exploration in New Zealand was in doubt.

"As the world experiences the climate crisis intensifying with more devastating fires, floods and droughts, it’s been staggering to see OMV continue to search for more fossil fuels to burn.

"Today is a clear sign that this company’s time here is up.

"Over the last decade, hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders have opposed deep sea oil drilling. In Otago, there has been sustained opposition to OMV’s Great South Basin drill programme from communities and local government alike.

"The increasingly unwelcome reception oil and gas companies are encountering here is testament to the power of all the people up and down the country who are demanding a better future for themselves, their children, and the natural world."