Greymouth Petroleum says it has consulted widely with the residents of Stewart Island over a proposed exploratory oil well.
Green Party MPs say the Southland District Council has granted the company consent for the well on private land on Horseshoe Bay Road without notifying the public.
Greymouth Petroleum has been given four months to drill for oil on Stewart Island.
The company's general manager of exploration, Robert Brady, says the community has been consulted with at several meetings.
He says there were few dissenters at the largest meeting.
Mr Brady says the well will be in a disused quarry, near some oil seeps, and the company will drill for about a month.
