Master Faire (Auckland) today granted the request by Schlumberger Seaco Inc. that GEL Exploration Inc. be liquidated.

The liquidator, to be appointed in the New Year, will then disburse to creditors about $NZ75, 000 held in trust by the court since Catherine Dodd, Sheriff of the High Court at New Plymouth, and her staff swooped on GEL Exploration's New Plymouth storage yards in September and seized various goods to recover outstanding debts.

However, that very small amount of money will go nowhere near repaying the millions of dollars GEL allegedly owes its staff, contractors and sub-contractors from its time when operating in New Zealand during the late 1990s and earlier this decade.

"That amount of money and this ruling has not even scratched the surface regarding GEL and its alleged activities here," said one court official.

Earlier this year Century Drilling and Energy Services Ltd initiated legal procedures for the recovery of outstanding debts incurred while the Houston-based GEL company was operating in New Zealand. This was in addition to Schlumberger's bankruptcy proceedings.

It is understood the web of intrigue surrounding GEL and associated companies, such as Titan Resources and Pacific Operating Ltd, may never be fully unraveled. Some claims of outstanding debts, said to have been incurred by GEL or its associates, range from as little as $NZ5000 to over $US1 million.

GEL held interests in several exploration permits in Taranaki and Wairarapa and participated in geophysical work and seismic over most of the permits it was involved in, although the 2000 Crusader well on the outskirts of New Plymouth was its sole drilling operation. GEL held a 100% interest in Crusader licence PEP 38721 and a 70% stake in the East Coast Basin permits PEP 38331 and 334.

It is known that during its time here, GEL "courted" several companies wanting them to farm-in to GEL's licences or wanting to take stakes in their licences. The companies that ran security-integrity checks on GEL in the United States were so disappointed with the results they ensured they had no dealings with the company.

Last March Canadian-listed company Pacific Tiger Energy formally announced its departure from the New Zealand exploration scene, citing GEL's failure to meet its joint venture operating agreement obligations (for offshore Taranaki block PEP 38463) as one reason for the Singapore-based company's departure.