Mr Roberts issued a shock rejection of the licence application in late March, because he only wanted "reputable firms" and "speculators and cowboys need not apply", specifically referring to Grainger Energy, a company with just one director.

The timing of the announcement surprised Grainger Energy director Vaughan Cullen, who was still in the process of drafting responses to community concerns when he was called three nights before the submission deadline and told not to bother.

In a statement on Mr Roberts' website last week, he said the statement did not intentionally refer to the company or Mr Cullen as "speculators, cowboys or unreputable or if anyone thought that was the case, the Minister is happy to clarify the position and indicate that was not what he intended".

Mr Cullen said he could not comment, as issues regarding how the minister issued the apology meant it was back in the hands of lawyers.

The news comes as NSW Farmers changed its policy on CSG to lobby for comprehensive and independent baseline water and soil studies prior to mining and CSG operations.

"If we don't protect our aquifers in the Riverina, there's an enormous amount of registered bores that could become poisonous," NSW Farmers executive and Binya farmer Helen Dalton said.

"I personally think in irrigation areas with horticulture, coal seam gas can't co-exist with farming, but in remote areas where the productive value is a lot less some people may want it."

A complete moratorium of CSG in NSW was also proposed at the NSW Farmers annual conference, but it failed a vote.

The six-month freeze on NSW CSG exploration licences still has roughly two months to run.