Greenpeace has it wrong - no subsidies for oil and gas industry

There are no direct subsidies for the oil and gas industry in New Zealand and Greenpeace has their facts wrong, says the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ).

“Claims of major subsidies are wrong and complete rubbish. This myth was addressed just last week in the Productivity Commission’s latest report,” says PEPANZ CEO Cameron Madgwick.

“In fact, our industry is a major net contributor to New Zealand. The Government receives 42% of all profit from any producing field, with an average of $500 million per year in taxes and royalties going to the Crown.

“The Productivity Commission looked at the issue of subsidies in their Low emissions economy report last week and found that while it has been claimed there are subsidies of over $70 million, the vast majority of this is a rebate of fuel excise to off-road users. This recognises that those who don’t use roads shouldn’t have to pay what is essentially a user payment for road construction and maintenance.”

According to the report: ‘New Zealand provides only minor (less than $4 million a year) government support to activities with some relationship to fossil-fuel production and consumption.’

“Of this $4 million, around $3.2 million of that goes towards petroleum geoscience which has other uses such as increasing our knowledge of fault lines and natural hazards.”