Government Ban on Natural Gas Deconstructed By Expert

Open Letter re Oil and Gas Exploration

A guest post from Mark Webster of New Endeavour Resources (N.Z) Ltd.
Republished from Kiwiblog

The recent decision by the New Zealand government to stop issuing Permits for offshore oil & gas exploration is misguided and counter-productive.  It is highly likely that New Zealand has sufficient natural gas to support an LNG industry.  Exporting gas to countries that currently utilise coal would have a real, material impact on global emissions, and be a game changer to the NZ economy, enabling NZ to fund the social, environmental, infrastructure, and regional development programmes that the government has prioritised.  The current strategy will have minimal, and probably negative, impact on emissions, while removing a valuable source of revenue, with no substitute identified.

I am a New Zealander and a petroleum geologist.  I started my career as a graduate in Petrocorp and left 13 years later as Chief Geologist. I have worked in the industry for 34 years, in New Zealand and overseas (in Australia, Canada, Thailand, Philippines, and Malaysia). I established a company (NER) with two experienced Australian colleagues, specifically to look for gas reserves in Taranaki.  We see huge potential here and have been working hard to develop opportunities, attract investors to NZ, and unlock this resource.  I don’t believe anyone would define us as Big Oil; I drive a 2004 Toyota Echo.

Like most people in the NZ oil & gas industry, I also care about clean air, clean water, and a fair society, and am grateful daily that I am lucky enough to live on these lightly populated and isolated islands. I voted Labour in the last election because, like many others, I was concerned at the growing inequity in NZ, the need for communities to have to provide food and clothing for school kids, the woeful salaries we pay teachers, nurses and basically anyone who isn’t in a position to yield financial clout. I don’t like seeing our youngest and brightest burdened by debt when they successfully complete training or education, knowing home ownership is moving out of their reach and they will be responsible for a rapidly increasing aged population requiring care. I liked Labour’s promises to boost the regions, so Auckland doesn’t become the hippo sitting at one end of the rowboat.

My argument is very simple.