News of the announcement followed agreement between the relevant parties regarding the process for the redetermination of the gas reserves to go ahead.

As a result, Methanex New Zealand has withdrawn all High Court proceedings against the field owner, Maui Development Limited and the Crown. The substantive hearing of Methanex claims - of alleged inadequacy of information provided by MDL - will not now be heard by the High Court in Wellington in mid-August as previously scheduled.

The parties to the Maui gas contracts - the New Zealand government, MDL, Methanex, NGC and Contact Energy - have also agreed that, in addition to deciding the level of remaining gas reserves, the independent expert will also consider any issues relating to the adequacy of information provided by MDL.

The move to appoint an independent company comes as no surprise to the New Zealand energy industry. The Maui contract provides for the appointment of independent experts where the parties cannot agree on the remaining volume of gas reserves.

Several international firms are regarded as frontrunners to be appointed to investigate the Maui redetermination matter - the most important issue to face the New Zealand energy industry in years.

The government's Treasury department has used Texas-headquartered Forrest Garb and Associates in the past, while it is understood Methanex and NGC have used Gaffney Cline.

One individual likely to be considered is former New Plymouth-based NGC executive Andrew Young, who was recently elected international president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and is based in Sydney. Commentators say he has an extensive background knowledge of Maui and the expertise to be included in any review team.

It is believed all parties must agree on which firm is to be selected for this critical task and any decision is likely to only take a week or two, as opposed to several months.

Methanex Corporation Asia vice-president Bruce Aitken was in Western Australia but unavailable for comment earlier today.

However, NGC chief executive Phil James welcomed the news, as it confirmed the redetermination would proceed in a timely fashion, with the agreement and commitment of all parties.

It is still possible for the parties to agree on the remaining reserves left in the declining field before the independent experts make a decision.

NGC said a decision was expected within four months of the appointment, though the Maui contract contains no specific deadline for that expert opinion to be given.

All consultant firms likely to be considered by the parties are extremely well regarded around the world and are very proficient in reservoir engineering work. A thorough investigation of the Maui redetermination issue is assured and, given the urgency of the matter, it is unlikely the selected firm will be tardy in giving it's report.

MDL shocked the New Zealand energy industry last November when it announced that Maui could be depleted by mid-2007 instead of the contracted 2009. New reservoir studies indicated only 3800 Petajoules (PJ) of recoverable gas were originally in place - not the 4085PJ on which the MDL-government contracts were based. MDL later asked for a formal redetermination - an effective re-allocation of remaining reserves between the major users.

NGC and Contact Energy can survive losing physical gas and rights to pre-paid gas, NGC less so than Contact. However, losing physical gas will put Methanex NZ out of business.