When Tamarind Taranaki abruptly abandoned the Tui Oil Field in December, it left taxpayers facing a bill of at least $155 million to plug the undersea wells.
Now a whistleblower inside the oil and gas industry is warning there's a risk the government might end up footing the bill to decommission another Taranaki oilfield.
The Austrian owned oil firm OMV is planning to sell a majority share of the Maari oil field to Singaporean company, Jadestone for $75 million.
The industry insider says the success or failure of Jadestone's business model relies on finding oil that might not be there.
Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin has more.
