An American deep-sea oil prospector has delayed plans to drill in New Zealand waters 10 times deeper than has ever been attempted.
Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum planned to hire a rig to drill in waters at least 1.5km deep off Canterbury and Taranaki this summer.
Its New Zealand corporate affairs manager says Anadarko found a rig but it is not available until January next year, halfway though the summer drilling season.
Alan Seay says that is not enough time to finish all the wells Anadarko wants, and the drillers will not arrive now until late 2012.
Anadarko owns a one-quarter share of the Deepwater Horizon well which ruptured and leaked oil into the Gulf of Mexico for three months, causing widespread contamination. The company was not involved in the drilling.
Environment lobby group Climate Justice says Andarko's postponement is a sign of growing opposition to the petroleum industry.
Spokesperson Urs Signer says such decisions are largely financial, but community opposition forced Greywolf to abandon its bid to drill in Golden Bay and saw Brazil's Petrobras leave East Coast waters early.
Opponents also say their protests are putting heat on environmental regulators and drillers, making it more difficult to get speedy approval for mining in New Zealand.
