Government commits $40.5m to two gas exploration projects
The Government will spend $40.5 million from its $200 million gas exploration fund on two exploration projects. Resources Minister Shane Jones announced the allocations on 23 September. He said the projects would help secure New Zealand's ongoing energy needs, RNZ.
Where the money goes
$14.5 million will go to Schlumberger New Zealand to provide open access to AI-backed 3D seismic modelling data. Seismic modelling builds a 3D picture of rock layers from sound waves, with AI used to process the results faster. The data covers the Taranaki, East Coast and Great South basins. Access will be free for explorers for two years.
$21.5 million will go to EnZed Energy's Kaheru project. Kaheru is exploring for recoverable gas offshore from Taranaki, meaning gas that could be brought to shore and used. It is targeting 182 petajoules of gas. That volume is equivalent to nearly a quarter of New Zealand's current proven and probable reserves, the gas thought likely to be produced from known fields.
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals has also released the 2025 Petroleum Exploration Data Pack. The pack sits alongside the funded work as the technical information base for explorers assessing acreage, the areas they can bid to explore.
What happened before
The announcement follows the first two Gas Security Fund projects announced on 7 September. Those involve up to $23.5 million for two projects run by Todd Energy, Beehive. Todd Energy is a New Zealand-owned explorer and producer operating in Taranaki.
The funding decisions sit within the conservative coalition Government's programme to reopen blocks outside the onshore Taranaki basin to oil and gas explorers, Argus. That reopening was scheduled for September last year.
The broader context here is the split between public-good data and direct project support. Seismic surveys and reprocessing are expensive, which often locks out smaller explorers. Making AI-backed 3D data freely available for three basins over two years lowers that barrier. It also tests whether cutting early geological risk brings more bids for acreage than subsidising drilling directly.
In my view, the Kaheru commitment is the sharper political test. The 182-petajoule target is specific, so it can be measured against proven and probable inventory if drilling proceeds. Offshore Taranaki is known geology with links to existing infrastructure. Officials will look at cost per petajoule found, timing of any final investment decision, and how gas from any discovery reaches contracted demand. Readers in Wellington should watch three process points. First, the terms of the $21.5 million, whether support is repayable, milestone-based or equity-linked rather than a grant. Second, uptake of the Schlumberger data, including downloads, licence applications and reprocessing requests across the East Coast and Great South basins. Third, alignment with permitting and block offer decisions. Funding without a clear path to consents and acreage access stalls quickly. Funding paired with those decisions moves faster.
