The Government says it won't be launching an investigation into the controversial method of extracting oil and gas known as fracking.
But it says it may reconsider that decision, depending on the response of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
The Labour and Green parties have called for an inquiry into the practice, which has been banned in some countries because of environmental concerns.
Environment Minister Nick Smith says he will wait until the commissioner has made her decision before deciding whether a select committee should look into the matter.
He says there have been no environment issues with the fracking work done in the Taranaki region over the past 20 years.
