New Zealand is hoping to join the ranks of oil and gas-producing countries in the world by beginning a 40-year cycle in oil and gas exploration.

New Zealand Petroleum and Mining (NZPAM), the agency that grants the exploration permits, said that within the next 12 months, there would be at least three oil rigs drilling up to 13 holes.

New Zealand Minister for Energy and Resources Simon Bridges disclosed the start of the exploration activities at the opening of the yearly petroleum conference in Wellington on Wednesday. He told the 100 delegates that over $8 billion had been spent in exploration activities the past 6 years and $300 million in corporate tax and $400 million in royalties have been paid the past calendar year.

He said that if any of the other 17 basins have the same energy sources like Taranaki, it would be a game changer for the country's oil and gas sector.

The five offshore and three onshore exploration areas cover a total of almost 434,000 square kilometers.

However, the Greens and other green activists are protesting the exploration activities while consultations just started with iwi and local authorities in the affected areas before NZPAM finalises the tenders for exploration in 2014.

The Green Party accused the government of not allowing New Zealanders to have a say on the exploration activities. To support the Green's opposition to the plan, 120 protesters gathered outside the conference to call for the gathering's halt on the grounds of the exploration's possible impact on climate change.

"New Zealanders should get a say on proposals for risky deep sea drilling because the consequences of a spill will affect everyone," said Green Party energy spokesman Gareth Hughes who reminded the government that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico came from an exploratory well in 1,500 metres of water.

"The National Government seems determined to ram through unpopular proposals to sell of New Zealand assets and our natural environment without bothering with what the public thinks," he added, stressing that deep sea drilling in not worth the risk since the economic benefits it offer do not justify the risk of a catastrophic spill that could cost the country billions.

But Mr Bridges said it is not a development at any cost since the government is committed to promote and manage exploration interests in a safe and responsible way.

He said formal consultation started on Thursday for the 2014 block tender offer, which includes the Great South and Canterbury Basins, Pegasus Basin off the Wairarapa coast, the Reinga and Northland Basins in northwest New Zealand, the New Caledonia Basins and the offshore Taranaki Basin.

The consultation period ends Nov 14, 2013.

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