Wellington, Jan 29 NZPA - New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) says commissioning of its Kupe oil field off the coast of Taranaki is progressing well and it hopes to have permanent production up and running by March.

Wellington, Oct 7 NZPA - Partners in New Zealand's Maari oil field say they have found a substantial second zone of oil and successfully drilled a horizontal production well through the reservoir containing an estimated 30-40 million barrels of oil-in-place.

Wellington, Aug 31 NZPA - Todd Energy, the energy company of the wealthy Todd family, today praised the investment environment created by the Government. Todd Energy said it is investing $100 million in searching for oil and gas in New Zealand.

Wellington, July 7 NZPA - Austral Pacific Energy, an energy exploration and production company in receivership, is selling its stake in the Cheal oil field to a Canadian company.

Wellington, May 1 NZPA - Wellington-based exploration and production company Austral Pacific Energy is in receivership. The company said today it agreed with the group's senior secured creditor, Investec Bank (Australia), to the appointment of a receiver.

Wellington, March 26 NZPA - Exploration and production company Austral Pacific Energy's full year net loss almost doubled to $US43.8 million ($NZ78.9 million) in 2008.

Wellington, Feb 25 NZPA - Maari oil field has started producing oil. The Maari field, 80km off Taranaki, is expected to yield 50 million barrels of oil over its 10 to 15 year life.

Wellington, Feb 19 NZPA - Australian company Pan Pacific Petroleum today reported a $A39 million ($NZ50 million) profit in the six months to December 31 care of its part ownership of the Tui oil field in Taranaki. The profit was up from $A9.99m in the same period last year.

Wellington, Dec 29 NZPA - New Zealand has secured options for 2009 to buy oil and petrol in the event an emergency is declared by the International Energy Agency (IEA). This country has an IEA obligation to hold 90 days of the previous year's net fuel imports.

Wellington, Dec 1 NZPA - Oil and gas company Austral Pacific Energy Ltd was unlikely to be able to repay a loan facility by December 15 so had to restructure the facility.