No booty for Bounty in NZ court case

South Perth-based exploration company Bounty Oil and Gas NL has lost its two appeals to New Zealand's High Court against the revocation of an exploration permit in NZ's Great South Basin.

In a letter to the Australian Stock Exchange, Bounty stated that it was currently consulting with its lawyers, but was unlikely to pursue the matter further. The company would write the matter off for the financial year ending June 30, 2006.

The exploration permit was revoked by Crown Minerals, an NZ government agency, on the grounds that the Bounty-led consortium had breached the conditions of the permit by not having started drilling in the agreed three-year timeframe. Bounty argued that its non-compliance was outside its control.

Bounty's loss opens the door for international investment in the region, a front runner being ExxonMobil which purchased Bounty's seismic data of the area for $US 3.2 million last year.

Shares in Bounty were trading at 39 cents at 2:00 WST.