November 2018

Energy Voices campaign to continue

The Energy Voices campaign will keep running to give voice to concerns over the end to new offshore oil and gas exploration permits, PEPANZ has announced today.

"The legislation may have passed but there has been a strong reaction from workers and communities who don't feel they've been listened to. They face an uncertain future, and feedback we've received is that we need to keep highlighting these issues," says PEPANZ CEO Cameron Madgwick.

"We are thrilled with the strong public reaction to the campaign. Our content has been shown up to 400,000 times each week on social media, based around the website www.energyvoices.nz, a Facebook page and Twitter. We also now have a presence on LinkedIn and Youtube."

One of the most powerful pieces has been the video of Waitara local Bill Simpson explaining to MPs the impact of job losses on his whanau and community. His clips have been viewed well over 60,000 times online.

Legislation to end new offshore exploration passes into law

Legislation to end new offshore permits for oil and gas exploration has passed into law earlier this month after an extremely shortened legislative process.

The Environment Select Committee was given just four weeks to consider the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill instead of the usual four to six months. Just one week of public hearings was held and Government MPs voted against holding any hearings in Taranaki.

The rushed process was heavily criticised by many legal commentators, including those who actually supported the intent of the Bill. Dr Edward Willis from Auckland University warned "We should all be demanding better than the inadequate legislative process currently being relied on", while Dr Leonid Sirota from AUT described the process as "flawed" and "appears designed to minimise the scrutiny to which it will be subject."

The Government says a much wider and broader review of the Crown Minerals Act will be held next year.

The future of oil and gas in a lower carbon world

Oil and gas have a crucial long-term role and will have much less of an impact on the environment in future, according to a new report released by PEPANZ.

“This report sets out how it is both possible and essential for oil and gas to co-exist in a net zero emissions world,” says PEPANZ Net Zero Committee Chair Dr Kate Bromfield.

'A Changing Role: The Future of Oil and Gas in a Lower Carbon World' outlines how emissions can be reduced, captured and offset through policies like the ETS, afforestation and carbon capture and storage.

Read the full publication

Busy summer ahead for industry

The oil and gas industry is gearing up for a busy period in Taranaki with a number of drills planned over the next 18 months.

OMV, Tamarind, Todd and New Zealand Oil and Gas are all involved in both onshore and offshore work this summer.

“In the short term it’s good news for Taranaki workers and local businesses. It's also very important work for New Zealand, given we have only 10 years of natural gas supply left which is rapidly diminishing," says PEPANZ CEO Cameron Madgwick.

Read media coverage of the upcoming work

Global demand for natural gas continues to boom

The rest of the world appears to be paying little notice to New Zealand's 'leadership' in ending new offshore petroleum, with a number of countries heading in the opposite direction.

The Irish Government is refusing to support a bill to end offshore oil and gas exploration because it "might be well-intentioned, but won’t help Ireland lower its emissions or levels of imported energy."

Croatia is inviting interested parties to apply for the right to explore and drill for new petroleum, and the Australian Government has just announced seven new offshore exploration permits.

Meanwhile Canada is about to begin a $40 billion LNG "megaproject" to export natural gas to Asia. Other huge LNG facilities will be approved in 2019 in Qatar, Russia and Mozambique.