In July, regulators shut down one of the country's biggest offshore oil platforms, the Northern Endeavour, after finding it riddled with rust, lacking a proper fire suppression system and "risks of a major accident event occurring".

That forced the company which owns it, Northern Oil and Gas, into voluntary administration.

The administrator, KPMG, has until next week to find a new owner who will likely need to spend an estimated $50 million to repair the vessel at a dockyard in Darwin.

If a buyer cannot be found, the Laminaria and Corallina oilfields, 250 nautical miles north-west of Darwin, may need to be decommissioned.

Several subsea wellheads would need to be capped to prevent some 24 million barrels of crude oil escaping into the Timor Sea.

The cost is estimated at $200 million, which the federal government may need to pay for.

Another option would be forcing the previous owner of the oilfields, Woodside Petroleum, to pay.

Northern Oil and Gas owner Angus Karoll, who bought the Northern Endeavour from Woodside in 2016, told AM he still hopes to bring the stricken oil platform back into production "to operate and continue to pay taxes and be a regional Australian producer."

Asked whether he thought decommissioning was likely he replied: "That's not our plan."

He's calling for regulators to lift their ban on the corrosion-riddled ship extracting oil, allowing his company to come out of administration.

"It should be allowed to produce and continue to pay the taxes which it's paid up until today and employ those 250 Australians."

He claims repairs can be carried out at sea for less than $10 million and that he has the support of Resources Minister Matt Canavan.

"He relies on his agency to provide him advice. But he has told us, do these repairs and we'll allow you, we want to see you back in production," Mr Karoll said.

But in a statement to the ABC, Mr Canavan disputed Mr Karoll's claim.

"I have no recollection of that account of the meeting," the statement says.

"I stressed to Mr Karroll the importance of meeting the conditions outlined in (the regulator's) orders.

"I fully support (the regulator's) actions," the minister added.

"Our priority must be the safety of oil and gas workers and our clean environment."