The NSW Department of Industry has admitted documents it released promoting the state's Northern Rivers region as having "very good potential" for coal seam gas (CSG) exploration were misleading.
It comes after the state government last year declared northern NSW a CSG-free zone amid growing local pressure about the environmental effects of fracking.
Foreign investors were also told of the "significant potential" for uranium exploration in parts of the state, including the northern rural region of New England.
"The Clarence-Moreton Basin has very good petroleum potential for the production of hydrocarbons," the document said.
"The potential for commercial opportunities" within the basin was highlighted by a recent discovery, it said.
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AAP understands the material was presented to mining investors at an international trade conference in Toronto earlier this year.
The documents also spruiked the "significant potential" for uranium exploration in Broken Hill and Lachlan in the state's central west, and in the New England region further north.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Industry said it had withdrawn the promotional material.
"It is with regret that we acknowledge that these materials did not make clear that while gas resources may have been identified in these areas, they will not be released for any exploration or production activities in the Northern Rivers," a statement from the Resources and Energy division said.
"The materials do set out that whilst the ban was lifted from exploring for uranium in NSW, it remains a declared mineral and the ban on mining uranium in NSW remains," the statement said.
New processes to ensure future promotional materials align with government policies are being implemented, the department said.
NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham has criticised the government for presenting the material.
"The people of the Northern Rivers have been double-crossed," he said.
"They were told by the Nationals that the region was now CSG-free yet their own government is pushing for the potential for coal seam gas in the region to international visitors," he said.
"This kind of duplicity is the worst thing in politics."
