In New Zealand, 14 new licenses were granted: 6 in the East Coast region, 6 offshore Taranaki, and 2 in the South Island. Two licenses were relinquished, and the onshore Taranaki license held by Petrocorp expired. Onshore seismic activity totaled 525 km; offshore seismic activity totaled 3,221 km (reconnaissance seismic surveys by TCPL accounted for much of the offshore activity). Drilling decreased slightly, with 18 wells drilled (13 onshore and 5 offshore) totaling 55,203 m. The drilling of Kora-1 on a volcanic structure in the North Taranaki basin has led to speculation about a possible oil discovery. Total Petroleum production remained steady at 4,360 million m³ of gas, 1,127 thousand m³ of condensate, 190 thousand m³ of LPG, and 509 t ousand m³ of oil.

In Papua New Guinea, further discoveries in the overthrust belt of the Papuan basin have confirmed the highly prospective nature of this area. A major gas and condensate field with 4 pay zones was established in the Hides structure east of Juha field, and early in 1988 gas, condensate, and oil were found in the Hedinia structure south of the Iagifu oil field discovered in 1986. Total drilling amounted to 15,725.55 m during 1987. Seismic surveys covered 858 km onshore and 4,747 km offshore. There are 36 active Petroleum Prospecting Licences: 32 in the Papuan basin and 4 in the North New Guinea basin.

No new developments were reported in Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.