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Oil company to drill on Stewart Island

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Oil company to drill on Stewart Island

3News NZ

An oil company will drill an exploratory well on Stewart Island as early as next week

An oil company will drill an exploratory well on Stewart Island as early as next week

An oil company will drill an exploratory well on Stewart Island as early as next week.

Greymouth Petroleum has been granted consent by Southland District Council and Environment Southland to drill a well on private land on Horseshoe Bay Road to carry out petroleum exploration.

The consent, issued yesterday, is for four months.

Council senior resource management planner Jennifer Green says the approval is for exploration only and any further testing of the well or further drilling of wells will be subject to another resource consent application.

She told NZ Newswire Greymouth Petroleum would begin drilling next week.

Greymouth Petroleum holds six exploration permits in the Taranaki Basin and one on the Great South Basin. It has rights to produce gas and oil from eight onshore Taranaki mining permits.

It will be the first time petroleum exploration is carried out on Stewart Island, Ms Green says.

Activities at the well include 24-hour drilling operations, temporary buildings and structures, and minor earthworks relating to site construction.

The consent has been granted with 13 conditions, including that the site be restored to its original state and that only essential drilling activities be carried out.

NZN

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Comments

23/07/2012 7:26:26 p.m.

HAUANGI KIWHA wrote:

Original owners were Taare TE KAAHU and TE one wiwi Taiaroa who have 56 beneficaries.Admin is RAKIURA M.L.TRUST none of whom have any interests in the land.Two supervisors have differing goals one being gas and the other oil.Their are porkies being told somewhere.

14/07/2012 12:00:23 p.m.

Tata Parata wrote:

I am the chairperson of Wai-iti Whanau Trust who succeded as shareholders to block Horseshoe Bay No. 5 There is a total of 40 shareholders, The block was
originally owned by Te One Wiwwi Taiaroa
who died in 1887. Rakiura Maori Land Trust administer the block. The first notice of the oil drilling was thru the internet. I have cxhecked and none of the 40 shareholders or whanau mambers were spoken advised or consulted on drilling approval. If the Rakiura Trust as administrators were consulted no information was passed on to our trust. The block is a particular iconic piece of real estate and oil exploration whether prospecting or temporary will have a considerable impact on the natural beuaty of the locality and the island as a whole. Lets be honest a natural envoronmental land beauty can never be restored to its orginal state -past experiences show the oil company moves on but their activities an never be never hidden or forgotten. Sadly the block owners place their land guardianship in the care of the Rakiura Trust who failed to provide information and opportunity to contribute their objection.

12/07/2012 1:43:57 p.m.

Hauangi Kiwha wrote:

Who owns that land on Horseshoe BAY NOT ADMINISTRATES IT BUT OWNS IT.