An oil rig sits in front of Mt Taranaki between Stratford and Midhurst.

A flurry of oil and gas exploration is set to be unleashed in Taranaki during the next 18 to 36 months as companies make decisions on whether to 'drill or drop' existing permits.

The schedule will see as many as 20 wells being drilled both onshore and offshore in the region before early 2019 as the price of oil steadily rises, to US$80 from below US$40 two years ago.

Among the companies involved in the region are Todd Energy, Tamarind Resources, and OMV.

SHELL NZ Offshore exploration in the Taranaki Basin.

A Petroleum Exploration and Production Association New Zealand (PEPANZ) spokesman said a decision would be made on a total of 31 exploration permits to be completed in Taranaki, as well as off the east coast of both the North and South Islands over the next three years.

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Tamarind publicly notified marine consent applications in early May for public submissions to drill five sidetrack offshore wells in the Tui field, in the Taranaki Basin from early 2019.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces the end of offshore exploration, with (from left) Energy Minister Megan Woods, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, Climate Change Minister James Shaw.

Todd Energy is well underway with preparations to begin drilling and hydraulic fracturing six new wells at the Mangahewa G site, north Taranaki, in late 2018. Contractors are finishing off laying the 4.5 kilometre gas pipeline from the site to the Mangahewa production station in preparation for the wells being drilled and fractured.

The drilling and fracturing phase of the programme could see employment for up to 150 people.

OMV, which recently acquired Shell New Zealand assets, is planning to drill nine offshore exploration wells during the 2019/2020 summer across six permits in the Taranaki Basin.

The permits, granted to the company under the Crown Minerals Act, have a number of time-dependent exploration commitments and if successful further appraisal drilling, the step before production, would be considered, the PEPANZ spokesman said.

Tag Oil recently finished drilling to 3000 metres onshore at Puketea-1 well in the Puka permit, north Taranaki.

E tū union organiser Ross Henderson said any new confidence in the industry should also be treated with a degree of caution.

"We welcome any work that comes into the province but the industry is fickle," he said.

"As a result a lot of skilled workers have left the region."

Henderson was guarded as to whether the next 18 months would bring those skilled workers back.

"It's unlikely because of the fickleness of the industry."

Many skilled staff have been marking time or gone overseas for work, he said.

"There is nothing enduring about the oil and gas exploration industry - it's a high cost and a high stakes game.

"If you are not lucky to find black gold you can be left with a decent bill at the end."

Tamarind has vast experience with end-of-production wells and an ability to extract the last drop out of wells, he said.

Henderson was hopeful more clean energy projects would become more prominent as the transition moved from extracting fossil fuels to renewable sources, such as wind and solar.

The halt on offshore exploration from 2030 would not cause a sudden loss of jobs in the industry beforehand, he said.

"Production employed a large number of people and would continue with the known gas supply to last 10 years."

Henderson said the Prime Minister's visit to New Plymouth this week, to talk to union members about the transition away from fossil fuel exploration, was welcomed.