New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) is planning to take over Australian oil company Woodside Petroleum's 70% interest in an offshore exploration block in the frontier Great South basin.
A decision on whether to drill an exploration well or relinquish the permit is required for Block PEP 55794 by April 2020.
"New Zealand has benefited from the excellent technical, administrative and community work that Woodside undertook here," NZOG said, adding that it intends to complete a review of prospectivity in the Toroa structure and finalise resource estimates.