Ngaere oilfield hearing ends
PA Wellington A High Court case which is set to determine ownership of what looks to be New Zealand’s biggest onshore oil field ended in Wellington yesterday. Mr Justice Greig, who will now consider his decision, heard submissions for five and one-half days on whether Energy Minister, Mr Butcher, acted lawfully in awarding the Government a mining licence over an area of Taranaki called Ngaere in May last year. Mr Butcher’s decision has been challenged by a consortium of exploration companies led by Petrocorp, who have a mining licence covering the adjacent Waihapa area. The Government now wants to sell the Ngaere rights to the joint venture for several hundred million dollars. The consortium has claimed Ngaere is part of the Waihapa discovery, and that it should have been given an extension to its existing mining licence. The Crown has countered by maintaining that the Ngaere area was unlicensed, and therefore the consortium had no right to it. It also claims the consortium’s existing Waihapa mining licence does not apply to the oil field, but to a deeper gas field now believed to be uneconomic.
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Press, 22 June 1989, Page 28
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189Ngaere oilfield hearing ends Press, 22 June 1989, Page 28
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