Norwegian-based oil company Statoil has told New Zealand's government it will stop looking for oil and gas in the Reinga Basin.
Statoil had been exploring these areas off Northland's west coast. Photo: STATOIL
The company was awarded two exploration permits in 2013 and 2014 for the region, about 85km off the west coast of Northland.
However, it has just announced that it studied 2D seismic data of the search area for three years, and concluded that the chance of a large oil or gas discovery was small.
It said that could not justify the cost of continuing its search.
Statoil New Zealand Country Manager Brynjulv Kløve said there was very little information available on the permitted area until his company began collecting its data, which would now be available to others.
"We worked hard to establish positive relationships with iwi and community leaders, local politicians and businesses, and are very grateful to the people of Northland for their support and hospitality," Mr Kløve said.
"Our focus will now shift to our four exploration permits off the South East Coast of the North Island, and to exploration projects elsewhere in the world."
The decision came against a background of low oil prices, which had discouraged exploration across the world, especially in deep water.
Widely quoted Brent Crude is at $US52.03, after hovering between $US100 and $US120 for several years until mid 2014, when it began to slide.