New Zealand often did not even “register” on companies’ exploration radar screens, Salisbury said.

New Zealand had a small upstream petroleum industry, and despite the recent Tui Area and Maari offshore Taranaki oil field developments, the country was still largely considered gas-prone, he said.

Also, the country’s regulatory framework was less developed than many other Western nations’, personalities played a bigger part in the industry politics than in other larger countries, and New Zealand had a deserved reputation for being a litigious environment, Salisbury argued.

Salisbury later told PetroleumNews.net he was being deliberately provocative to stimulate comment.

However he believed there was no room for complacency on the part of government and upstream and downstream petroleum players, and changes to regulatory and fiscal policies must be considered.

Salisbury cited Norway, where a move to reimburse all costs involved with drilling dry holes had stimulated an exploration upsurge.

He said he was not advocating a particular strategy, but if New Zealand did manage to optimise its exploration and production environment, then more petroleum companies would enter the country.