Wellington, July 8 NZPA - New Zealand Oil and Gas Ltd (NZOG) said it deeply regretted an oil discharge off the Taranaki coast in 2007 which has resulted in fines for the operators.

The discharge came from the floating production and storage offtake vessel Umuroa, which processes oil from the Tui oil fields. NZOG has a 12.5 percent stake in Tui.

AWE, as field operator, and Prosafe Production, as the owner and operator of the Umuroa, have been fined $52,500 each by the District Court, NZOG said.

Since the incident a range of additional operational and facility management procedures have been implemented to prevent any re-occurrence of this type of incident, NZOG said.