The stocks in New Zealand declined for the first time in five sessions. The main reason behind the decline was fall in the energy exploration and production company, New Zealand Oil & Gas. The offshore Taranaki oil and gas field dropped between 18% and 22%.

The NZ Oil & Gas fell 13.1% to a 7-year low of 73 cents. The decline was reported after the Australian operator of the Tui field said probable reserves are between nine and 11 million barrels of oil smaller than the 50.5 million barrels previously thought to be recoverable. If the prediction is accurate Tui will probably stop operating some time in 2019 or 2020.

James Smalley, an Adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said, “Tui has been a great cash cow but the big question was always been where were they were going to get the growth from, how were they how to replace Tui”?

The NZX 50 Index fell 21.06 points or 0.6% to 3,428.15. Within the index, 27 stocks fell, 13 stocks gained and 10 were unchanged. Overall turnover was $64.9 million.

The Australian lender, Westpac Banking, dropped 2.6% per cent to $26.65 on the NZX, and dropped 1.7% to A$21.23 on the ASX.