Source: Energy Resources Aotearoa
Energy Resources Aotearoa welcomes the Government’s move to allow new prospecting and exploration permits nationwide, not just in onshore Taranaki. This change creates a faster route to allocate acreage and restart the work needed to rebuild our gas supply.
Energy Resources Aotearoa Chief Executive John Carnegie said the announcement is a necessary pivot from crisis management to enabling the recovery of New Zealand’s gas reserves.
“Gas keeps the lights on, firms our renewable grid and supports thousands of high-value jobs. Opening up the permit area and adding an open market pathway are practical steps that can put capital and operators back to work in New Zealand.
Without new supply, New Zealand faces higher prices for homes and businesses, uses more coal, and has greater energy insecurity.”
Today’s announcement unlocks the potential for exploration and introduces a three-month competing application window to ensure permits are awarded to the strongest work programmes.
Carnegie says the Government’s focus on quality and pace is the right balance for a tight market.
“The open market application process balances urgency with fair competition. Operators can apply as soon as they are ready, while a three-month window for competing bids ensures permits go to those offering the strongest plans for success.”
Carnegie says that upcoming details on co-investment support from the Crown will also help restore investor confidence.
“Exploration is capital-intensive. Clear signals that the Crown is prepared to share that risk alongside industry will help to bring capital back into New Zealand.”
Investors now need confidence that these policy settings will remain in place, Carnegie says, allowing them to commit the billions of dollars required for exploration and development that will underpin our energy security.
“The 2018 exploration ban caused lasting damage – the unintended impacts of which are being felt acutely by all New Zealanders.
These measures from the Government are a step in the right direction, but durable, bipartisan policy settings will be essential to unlock a secure system that provides the energy abundance New Zealand needs to thrive.”
