New Zealand Oil & Gas directors are banking on further increases in the gold sector, as they recommended against accepting a takeover from Normandy Mining (NFM) group for their stake in Otter Gold Mines.

NZOG holds 3.5 million Otter shares and 1.4 million options. An independent report by Stanton Partners said the offer by Normandy was not fair and that the market value may be as high as 54c per share.

The original offer was 1.9 Normandy NFM shares per 100 Otter shares and $NZ0.012 per 100 Otter options.

Another oil and gas group watching with interest is Sun, with its 14.3 per cent interest in Basin Minerals, whose price has been heading north on speculation it could be the target of another takeover bid from larger players in the rare earths sector.