The new license is adjacent to and further offshore from PEP 38262, which the Australian company won in August last year.
Origin's new permit, covering about 23,790 square kilometres, also touches the northern boundary of some of the 40 Great South Basin blocks that Crown Minerals currently has on offer – bids for which close next March.
The proposed work program for the new permit will see Origin acquire a minimum of 2000km of 2D seismic data within three years, and drill an exploration well within four years of the initial five-year term.
Associate Energy Minister Harry Duynhoven told PetroleumNews.net that the outer Canterbury was one of New Zealand’s true exploration frontier regions, with little, if any, seismic or geophysical data available.
The new permit expands Origin’s already considerable presence in the New Zealand energy industry.
Origin now holds the most exploration acreage of any one explorer in New Zealand.
It operates the $NZ980 million Kupe gas-condensate project off south Taranaki, holding a 50% stake. It also holds 50% interests in two large offshore Northland licences, PEP 38618 and 619, with partner Austrian firm OMV, as well as a 25% stake in the smaller northern onshore-offshore Taranaki licence PEP 38729, with partner New Zealand Oil & Gas.
In addition, Origin holds a 51.4% stake in electricity and gas player Contact Energy, New Zealand’s largest listed energy company. Origin also owns Rockgas, New Zealand’s largest LPG distributor and retailer.
