The Government’s decision to approve the first permit since overturning the 2018 ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration is a backwards step that won’t improve New Zealand’s energy security or lower power bills, environmental and climate groups say.
Resources Minister Shane Jones has today signed off on Australian-owned EnZed Energy exploring for petroleum off the coast of South Taranaki – the first permit issued since the Government repealed the ban on new exploration.
WWF-New Zealand Interim CEO, Abbie Reynolds, said offshore oil and gas exploration is being sold as an answer to energy security and cost-of-living pressures, but the reality doesn’t stack up.
“These projects take years to develop and there’s no guarantee they’ll ever produce commercially viable oil or gas. That does nothing to ease power bills or support households facing cost-of-living pressures right now.
“The answer lies in more investment in clean energy we can build at home, not doubling down on expensive fossil fuel exploration.”
Lawyers for Climate Action’s Acting Executive Director, Laura MacKay, says the decision also raises serious legal questions in light of New Zealand’s international climate commitments and the Supreme Court ruling that climate change must be a consideration in new permitting decisions.
“Our highest court has made it clear that climate change must be considered when deciding whether to open areas for oil and gas exploration, and climate commitments are baked into several of our trade agreements.
"The International Court of Justice has been absolutely clear that new fossil fuel exploration does not align with international legal obligations. As well as choosing yet again to delay New Zealand’s transition to cheaper, cleaner energy, granting such applications exposes New Zealand to enormous reputational risk.”
The permit area overlaps with the West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary – an area set aside to protect the critically endangered Māui dolphin.
“It defies belief that we’re prepared to drill for fossil fuels in what is supposed to be a haven for our threatened marine life,” says Reynolds.
“Instead of plundering their home for expensive fossil fuels that might not even be there, we should be diverting time, money and political focus to scaling up clean energy and genuinely making life better for Kiwis.”
Polling commissioned by WWF-New Zealand and Lawyers for Climate Action NZ shows growing public scepticism that new oil and gas exploration will reduce energy costs, alongside strong support for more renewable energy.
“If the goal is reliable, affordable energy, the fastest and cheapest options are clean energy like wind, solar and hydro. Our future doesn’t lie in risky offshore drilling that benefits overseas companies and may never produce a single barrel of oil,” says MacKay.