New Zealand Orogenic Belt

Commentary

While there remains significant exploration prospectivity in the Basin, more recent results have been a significant headwind to attracting investment. This is further compounded by the government's increasingly hostile approach to the oil & gas industry.

Updated

June 18, 2024

Location

Description

The NZOB has been widely accepted to be comprised of two contributory elements; the Murchison and West Coast Basins. West Coast Basin, and the Westland Sub Basin, is situated at the edge of the Australian plate which is being overthrust and dextrally offset against the Pacific Plate along the Alpine Fault. The Murchison Basin is a narrow, fault-bounded depression located on Australian continental crust, west of the Australian-Pacific transform plate boundary of the Alpine Fault. The Murchison Basin is part of the system of the West Coast Basins of the South Island, and can be considered the southern termination of the Taranaki Basin.

Summary

The chequered history of commercial exploitation in the Basin has provided a headwind, although the most attractive exploration target, the shale series within the Murchison, remains a significant target.