PEPANZ Publishes Briefing to Energy and Resources Minister
The Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) has published it’s briefing to the new Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods today, setting out the industry’s role in 21st century New Zealand.
“The oil and gas industry is an essential part of New Zealand’s energy system, society and economy as well as supporting the transition to net-zero emissions,” says PEPANZ Chief Executive Cameron Madgwick.
“Our briefing sets out how we can help the new Government achieve its goals of growing the economy to benefit all New Zealanders and meet its net-zero emissions target.
“Natural gas will be an important transition fuel as the world seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because it generates half the emissions of coal which is still widely used around the world.
“Our industry contributes over $2.5 billion to New Zealand’s economy annually, and around $500 million in royalties and taxes to the Government accounts every year.
“There is great potential to grow this in other regions beyond Taranaki, as seen by New Zealand Oil and Gas’s recent report into the Barque prospect off the coast of Oamaru.
“At a broad level New Zealand has good policy settings, however there are some regulatory issues for the new Government to consider around decommissioning of facilities and consistency of marine consents.
“It’s important we keep exploring and developing these natural resources, otherwise we will eventually need to import more energy from overseas. This would mean missing out on the economic benefits and potentially a worse outcome for the global environment as well.”
A full copy of the report is available at http://www.pepanz.com/publications/publications/