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What are the different types of permits?

New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals issues permits to prospect, explore or mine petroleum under the Crown Minerals Act 1991. The following table lists the key information for the three types of petroleum permits available.

More detailed information is available in the Minerals Programme for Petroleum 2005 [975 kB PDF]

	Prospecting Permit	Exploration Permit	Mining Permit

Purpose	For conducting reconnaissance and general investigations of an area	To identify petroleum deposits and evaluate the feasibility of mining any discoveries made	For development of a petroleum field to allow the extraction and production of petroleum
Activities	Generally acquisition of geological and geophysical data	Geological and geophysical surveying, exploration and appraisal drilling and testing of petroleum discoveries	Mining operations relevant to the extraction, separation, treatment and processing of petroleum
Allocation	Non-competitive applications may be made over available areas	Petroleum Exploration Permit Block Offer	Subsequent to an exploration permit, following extensive appraisal programme and preparation of a work programme for development and mining of a discovery
Rights	Non-exclusive No subsequent rights	Exclusive Subsequent rights to apply for a mining permit	Exclusive
Duration	Up to 1 year	Up to 5 years Renewal of 5 years over a maximum of 50% of the original area Appraisal extension of up to 4 years possible	Up to 40 years, related to size of discovery and rate of production
Size	No size limit	Defined by New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals	Related to extent of discovery