The Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association and the Hunter Valley Protection Alliance want the vineyard areas excluded if the government grants a renewal.

AGL’s petroleum exploration licence area, or PEL 267, covers the wine and tourism areas of Broke Fordwich and Pokolbin and expires on January 19.

AGL says it has applied for a renewal. Applications are confidential.

The areas the association and the alliance have defined for what they call ‘‘ring fencing’’ of prime land closely match areas the NSW Department of Primary Industries have already identified as ‘‘viticulture strategic agricultural land’’, the alliance said.

Alliance executive officer Graham Gibson said existing laws allowed the government to defer PEL renewals, an option that would provide time to gather scientific information about coal seam gas industry techniques.

‘‘This is the government’s window of opportunity to save the vineyards and prime agricultural land,’’ Mr Gibson said.

He said the petroleum act specified that each time a PEL was renewed its area should be reduced by 25per cent.

‘‘PEL 267 was granted in 1985 and should have been reduced to nothing,’’ Mr Gibson said.

A spokesman for Resources Minister Chris Hartcher said the government had not assessed AGL’s application and could not comment.

The Newcastle Herald understands reducing the size of a exploration area is to ensure exploration is as efficient as possible, but that a company can request it maintain areas in its renewal application.

AGL’s adjoining licence area PEL four, covering Denman Muswellbrook and Scone was renewed in 2009.