Auckland: New Zealand’s government announced on Sunday its plan to introduce legislation aimed at lifting the contentious ban on offshore petroleum exploration, a move designed to rejuvenate investment in the country’s oil and gas sector.
The proposed bill seeks to end the prohibition, which has been in place since 2018, on exploration outside the onshore Taranaki region, a resource-rich area on New Zealand’s North Island. Resources Minister Shane Jones stated that the bill would be presented to parliament before the end of 2024.
“As well as removing the ban, we are proposing changes to the way petroleum exploration applications are tendered and allocated, aligning the petroleum decommissioning regime with international best practice, and improving regulatory efficiency,” Jones explained. He emphasized that the current regulations are “a barrier to attracting investment in exploration and production because they are overly costly and onerous on industry.”
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This legislative initiative is part of a broader policy shift by New Zealand’s right-of-centre government, which released several policy plans in November, including the proposal to repeal the exploration ban instituted by the previous centre-left Labour-led government.
However, the move faces opposition. Last year, the New Zealand Green Party launched a petition to maintain the ban, garnering support from environmental advocacy group Greenpeace.
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Government data indicates that New Zealand exported approximately NZ$900 million worth of oil in 2022, while crown revenue from petroleum totaled NZ$214 million in the 2022/23 fiscal year.
