I wish to make a ministerial statement relating to low gas production. This morning, Minister for Resources Hon Shane Jones released a public statement following the release of updated projections from industry coregulator, the Gas Industry Company. The assessment from the Gas Industry Company is dire. Insufficient gas is available to meet all contracted demand. …
It is important for the House to understand the magnitude of these updated projections. Natural gas production has decreased following the previous Government’s decision in 2018 to ban gas exploration beyond Taranaki. Since 2018, New Zealand has imported record levels of coal from Indonesia. Gas production has fallen by 51 petajoules between the years 2018 and 2023, investment in gas exploration, including to maintain production from existing wells, has collapsed, and existing fields are now in decline. The speed of reductions in production has also exceeded expectations.
So we no longer have enough gas to even meet current contracted demand.
The lights must stay on. Less natural gas will mean more coal being used to firm our electricity grid, as Genesis confirmed this morning. If it is not gas that keeps the lights on, then it must be coal. That is the reality of this situation the country finds itself in, and it is why this coalition Government has made urgent decisions on coordinating gas supplies and will lift the 2018 ban.
Another Labour legacy.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
5 comments:
Still no consequences for irresponsible politicians.
This is just another legacy of the Ardern wreckage left behind in New Zealand. Her egotistical "captain's call" to stop gas exploration has really screwed our energy sources.
The Minister has made that statement and he is correct.
Now what? Pontificate or get drilling. Time is a wasting and the gas is running out.
Hard decisions are going to have to be made, peoples noses are going to be putout of joint. None of this will be even remotely comparable to
the chaos about to unfold by turning off the gas.
This is going to be this government’s first big test.
Action please!
Only this isn't really true. There are five consented and viable gas fields that were not part of Labour's ban, and they can be brought into production only it takes about 10 years minimum. What's really the problem is supply and demand are very finely balanced with very little gas storage in NZ, so when the unexpected happens and more gas is needed, there is no flexibility in the system.
We don't need to explore for more gas, and the cheapest and fastest solution would be to buy several hundred megawatt of batteries to fill these gaps, then actually regulate our broken electricity market that is being gamed by Gentailers to burn coal because that commands the highest price for all market participants, instead of investing in new generation. Ridiculous.
Much as I despise Labour for their woke gender ideology, the disaster that is the economy and education etc, you can't blame this one on them.
What were the job losses when Ardern arbitrarily closed the oil and gas industry exploration in Taranaki ?
Compare that with the potential loss of jobs if Tiwai Pt is closed.
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