New Zealand natural gas is a cheaper, faster, and more reliable way to power our future

Energy Resources Aotearoa welcomes today’s announcements from the Government aimed at improving New Zealand’s energy security and encouraging much-needed investment in the energy sector.

Today’s announcement represents a significant step towards meeting our short-, medium-, and long-term energy needs. We welcome the Government’s recognition of the vital role natural gas will play in the electrification of New Zealand’s economy.

While the Government is looking at importing LNG in the near term, Energy Resources Aotearoa Chief Executive John Carnegie says importing foreign gas is not the preferred option when we have untapped domestic natural gas potential in New Zealand.

"The best solution for short and medium-term gas supply is continued investment in existing domestic gas fields.

Our preference is for any investment in natural gas to be in New Zealand’s infrastructure, skills and capability, not in foreign workers and imported gas."

Under the right regulatory and commercial conditions, gas can be quickly brought to the market and will be a cheaper option than imported foreign gas, Carnegie says.

"The landed price of imported gas, which filters through to customers, will be much higher than quoted spot prices of foreign gas because those spot prices don’t account for the costs of transportation, transmission, regasification, port use, and infrastructure.

To make an informed decision about how New Zealand guarantees our future energy security, all these costs need to be included."

Energy Resources Aotearoa remains concerned that the Government’s solution to grow domestic gas reserves does not appear to be proceeding with enough urgency given the magnitude of the problems that have emerged.

Carnegie says the state of the domestic gas sector has been well-known and signalled for several years. 

"We strongly urge the Government to move with urgency to pass the proposed amendments to the Crown Minerals Act and encourage appraisal and production of New Zealand natural gas through the necessary regulatory pathways."

We are heartened by the reference to an Energy and Electricity Security Bill, and we hope this act forms the basis for cross-party support. We look forward to working with all parties on this.