The Government has decided not to award exploration rights off the west coast of Northland, in an area thought to harbour huge fossil fuel potential.
No permits have been given for 12 exploration blocks in the Northland and Reinga basins.
The Ministry of Economic Development says the 12 blocks covering about 150,000 square kilometres were opened to bids in 2009.
The ministry's director of Petroleum and Minerals, Kevin Rolens, says it's too commercially sensitive to discuss why there were no successful bids, but he says the global recession and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have slowed exploration worldwide.
Mr Rolens says the blocks could come up again in future bid rounds.
The failure to award the rights comes on the back of Government figures that the nation's gas reserves have fallen by 4% percent.
The editor of the energy industry publication Energy News, Gavin Evans, says the country is down to about 11 years of forward supply.
