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Press, 9 May 1978, Page 31

The New Zealand Government’s haste to earmark revenues ahead of actual production in the case of Southland oil exploration is one of the major areas of concern. “I can’t see any future for us in a situation where if we find oil we are going to lose money,” a spokesman said.

Now the Government has decided to go it alone with two wells in Foveaux Strait and off Otago wells much closer to shore and in shallow waters where a gas find would be welcome compared with the embarrassment it would have caused in the deeper and remote areas previously drilled by the Penrod ’74 semi-submersible rig-

For the Invercargill offices of Hunt International and the Bluff warehouse things will be much the same except the rig will be under charter contract without Hunt

International paying 60 percent of the costs. The resident manager, Mr John Tatum, is staying to supervise. Whether the State-con-trolled enterprise will have the expertise to bring any recoveries Into full production remains to be seen. Some suggest that while the Penrod rig has not been lost in the meantime to New Zealand, the expertise has.

The four member partners of the Sea Hunt Group consortium with the New Zealand Government included a massive amount of expertise and recovery technology. Interhtaional oil companies have learned how to cope with the immense risks inherent in the search for oil and gas, as well as with technical and commercial risks. It remains to be seen whet heour Statextontrolled enterprise can draw on similar resources.