Regulator's update March 2021

Who we are

New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZP&M) is a brand name used by the Energy and Resource Markets branch of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). MBIE administers the Crown Minerals Act 1991 (and its predecessors) on behalf of the New Zealand Government.

In this issue:

Annual summary reports due 31 March – get in early and get online
Tier 1 iwi engagement reports due with ASR
Royalty return audits
Tui decommissioning update
Late change applications for minerals permits
Please contact NZP&M rather than individual advisors
In with our new forms and out with our old
How are we doing? Give us feedback about our services or systems.

Annual summary reports due 31 March – get in early and get online

Thank you to all those people who have already filed their Annual Summary Reports (ASRs) using the online permitting system (OPS). We’re really pleased with the uptake of this system so far and would like to receive any feedback you have on making further improvements.

If you haven’t filed your ASR yet – now is the time to do it.

Annual summary reports (ASRs) are due by 31 March 2021 for each permit you held in 2020, even if no work was carried out on your permit during 2020.

An ASR gives us information about how the permit is being used and helps show whether you are complying with your work programme. Collectively, ASRs also give us valuable information about New Zealand’s mineral and petroleum resources.

We’ve made significant improvements to the OPS and information to support permit holders in making the transition to filing reports online. The OPS is now more intuitive and we’ve clarified the help text in the OPS ASR forms.

Guidance for permit holders is available on the NZP&M website, and we’ve also produced video tutorials showing you how to fill out an ASR online:

To use the OPS you need to register online and have a RealMe login.

Iwi engagement reports due with Tier 1 ASR

We wish to remind Tier 1 operators that you are required to submit an iwi engagement report with your annual summary report by 31 March. Iwi engagement reports are required under the Crown Minerals Act and should describe your engagement with iwi and hapū whose rohe includes some or all of the permit area or who otherwise may be directly affected by the permit.

The minerals and petroleum programmes encourage Tier 1 operators to consult with iwi and hapū and gain their views on your engagement report before it is sent to us.

This year we intend to meet with some iwi and hapū groups to discuss permit holders’ engagement with iwi as part of NZP&M’s ongoing discussions and liaison with iwi and hapū. NZP&M will take into account any comments received from iwi and hapū about a permit holder’s engagement and this may be discussed during Annual Review Meetings later this year.

For more information see:

Minerals Programme [PDF 2160 KB]: Clauses 2.13, 11.3 and 11.8
Petroleum Programme [PDF 567KB]: Clauses 2.11, 11.2 and 11.7
Section 33C of the Crown Mineral Act 1991

If you have any questions please email nzpam@mbie.govt.nz.

Royalty return audits

MBIE conducts periodic audits of permit holders’ royalty returns to make sure permit holders’ are paying the correct amount in royalties.

If you need help completing your royalty return, or you find that you have filed a return that may be incorrect, please contact us on 0508 263 782.

Tui decommissioning update

Work is progressing on the demobilisation phase of the project. The flowlines connecting the FPSO Umuroa to the oil field have been flushed and a benthic survey (environmental monitoring) carried out.

MBIE has sought Registrations of Interest for two subsequent phases of the project:

planning and executing the removal of the subsea infrastructure and
the plugging and abandonment of the wells.

Contracts are expected to be awarded in August.

GETS website - Tui Decommissioning Project: Plugging and abandonment of wells

Late change applications for minerals permits

We’ve received a number of late applications for changes to permits recently. The timeframes for submitting change applications are set under the Act and compelling reasons are required to accept applications outside of these timeframes. Compelling reasons include information that did not exist or could not be known, or force majeure events that occurred beyond the control of the permit holder.

Delays in obtaining agreement between permit participants or delays in obtaining other legal or financial agreements are not considered compelling reasons. Additionally, we expect permit holders to have sufficient reliable reminders in place to make sure they meet any deadlines on their permits.

Below is a list of the different types of change applications and when these must be filed. We recommend these applications are made at least a few weeks prior to the submission date deadline to allow enough time for any changes or corrections to be made to the application. Incomplete applications may be rejected, so if an application is submitted within the last few days available, this could cause an application to be late. Late applications without compelling reasons will likely result in rejection of the application.

Extension of land: filed no later than 90 days* prior to expiry date of permit
Change of minerals: filed no later than 90 days* prior to expiry date of permit
Extension of duration – exploration and prospecting: filed no later than 90 days* prior to expiry date of permit
Extension of duration – mining: filed no later than 6 months prior to expiry date of permit
Appraisal extension: filed no later than 6 months prior to expiry date of permit
Change of conditions: filed no later than 90 days* prior to due date of the condition

*For clarity the 90 day period does not include the day of expiry.

Please contact NZP&M rather than individual advisors

Some of our advisors have been receiving a large volume of enquiries to their personal MBIE email address. Please send your enquiries through to nzpam@mbie.govt.nz rather than individual advisors. This ensures that enquiries are sent to the advisor who can best answer your questions and shares the workload across the team. It also means your email is picked up when staff are on leave.

In with our new forms and out with our old

Late last year we updated our NZP&M forms to include space for New Zealand Business Numbers among other changes. We’ve noticed a number of permit holders are using the old forms rather than the new ones. Please update your records so that you use the updated forms.

All of the updated forms can be found on our website
www.nzpam.govt.nz

How are we doing? Give us feedback about our services or systems

We’re keen to hear from you if you have any feedback about our services, systems or websites. NZP&M is making continuous improvements and your feedback helps us to improve. We have a form on our website for you to provide your feedback, complaints or enquiries.

See our feedback, complaints and enquiries form