Government of New Zealand It plans to reverse a five-year-old ban on new oil and gas exploration on Sunday (06/09/2024), prompting rejection from environmentalists and political opponents.
New Zealand Resources Minister Shane Jones said the ban reduced international investment and compromised the country’s energy security.
As such, a bill seeks to end the ban that only allowed new oil exploration in certain fields in the country’s North Island.
“Natural gas is critical to keeping our lights on and our economy going, especially during times of peak demand,” Jones said in a statement.
“When the previous government introduced the ban on exploration in 2018 (…) it reduced investments in new developments of our gas fields that support our current consumption levels,” he added.
Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick accused the government of “throwing oil and gas on the fire of the climate crisis”. “By prioritizing environmentally friendly clean energy we can be a more sustainable and efficient economy,” he said.
According to Jones, the oil and minerals sector contributed $1.2 billion to the New Zealand economy in 2020-2021.
On Friday, thousands of people demonstrated in the country’s major cities to reject another government attempt to stimulate the economy.
The “expedited approvals” program would allow many environmental regulations to be avoided and approval processes to be streamlined for large infrastructure projects.
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