Oil exploration

The oil and gas ban shows NZ as a true leader on the hardest issue of our times

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Fossil fuels are on the way out and New Zealand is leading the way, writes Claudia Palmer, the Campaigns and Mobilisation Manager for 350 Aotearoa. The New Zealand government’s ban on offshore oil and gas exploration is leadership on climate change, plain and simple. For an issue so vast and fraught with difficulty and vested interests, the … Read more

If the oil and gas ban is really a good idea, why are they rushing it through?

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Submissions on the proposed law to end new offshore oil and gas exploration have revealed a host of problems, says Cameron Madgwick, CEO of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of NZ. The phrase “a week is a long time in politics” seems very timely after a week of hearings on the proposed law to end … Read more

The Bulletin: Ugliness exposed on Bridges-Ross tape

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Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Secretly recorded tape raises huge questions for National, Austrian company gets oil exploration extension, and govt won’t close ‘back door’ for Nauru refugees. The question was asked yesterday – what fresh horrors await National? Well, we got our answer, with the release of a taped phone conversation … Read more

Is feel-good symbolism really worth the cost of this oil and gas ban?

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Any substantial difference in tackling climate change from banning oil and gas exploration will be tiny, and there will be serious economic costs. If it’s all for symbolic reasons, that’s fine, but let’s be clear that’s what it is, write Liam Hehir Ever since MBIE released its official advice on the oil and gas ban, … Read more

Strange but true: Australia has a lot to teach us about renewable energy

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With the announcement that the Government will end offshore oil and gas exploration in New Zealand, and at the end of our four-yearly schooling by Australia in how to win medals, Vector’s Karl Check says parts of Australia are also making pretty good progress when it comes to shifting away from coal and gas fired … Read more

No oil permits? No problem – just give us time to prepare

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South Taranaki iwi Ngāti Ruanui have commended the government on its decision to stop block offers for offshore oil and gas exploration, despite holding more oil and mineral exploration permits than any other iwi. If only the government were better prepared for the transition, writes Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Our iwi understands that there needs to be … Read more

Where’s the evidence that the government has thought through the exploration ban?

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The fact that the ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration permits was announced so quickly – and with seemingly so little research – should worry us all, writes Jenée Tibshraeny. This column was first published on interest.co.nz. ‘Think globally, act locally.’ That’s a nice phrase that that can be applied to the environmental movement. … Read more

The Bulletin: Long awaited Hit and Run inquiry launched

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Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Hit and Run inquiry launched, the government moves against offshore oil exploration, and there’s an outbreak of measles in the South Island. The government has launched a long-awaited inquiry into the events detailed in the book Hit and Run. The book, by investigative journalists Jon Stephenson … Read more

Why we need to keep looking for oil and gas

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Should further oil and gas exploration in New Zealand be banned? Cameron Madgwick, CEO of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) weighs in.  Should we keep exploring for more oil and gas in New Zealand? This is the big question the government is currently weighing up with a decision due soon. In … Read more