Following the visit to the semi-submersible rig Kan Tan IV and witnessing the way the Tuatara-1 well is being drilled to over 2000 meters with his own eyes; Environment Minister, Nick Smith criticized small councils as being incompetent of managing offshore oil and gas operations.

In addition, he outlined local operating bodies such as the Marlborough District Council, lacking essential expertise, and hence, the offshore oil and gas operations should be regulated by a national regulator.

The new Environmental Protection Authority is slated to take over the managing task of offshore oil and gas operations from the existing authority by next July, claims Nick Smith.

"While I'm sure the commissioner did his best, I would rather have employed within the environmental authority some first-class people who understand the offshore petroleum industry, and can genuinely test the industry and ensure that what we're doing is international best practice", he was quoted as saying while supporting his claims over the issue.

The Marlborough District Council extended his consent over the well, following a hearing conducted the previous year.

The well is reported to be under drilling process offshore from Nelson, 10 nautical miles from D'Urville Island, as part of Marlborough District.