In this land of towering peaks and gurgling streams, Simon Bridges wants to be lord of the rigs. As New Zealand’s resource minister, Mr. Bridges is the man behind New Zealand’s big-oil aspirations. He travels the world to pitch New Zealand to petroleum prospectors. It used to be a tough sell. New Zealand is remote and among the world’s most expensive places to drill offshore. Big prospectors largely avoided it. Today, it is experiencing an exploration boom that is part of a broader shift: After decades of focusing on less-developed nations, big companies are tilting toward wealthy countries when hunting for oil and gas. Such places have higher costs and tighter regulations, but their political stability offers […]