New Zealand reverses ‘ill-fated' oil and gas ban
The country's government voted on Thursday to overturn the ban, with Shane Jones, the resources minister, arguing that climate change was 'largely moral hysteria'.
He said overturning the ban would stoke investment in petroleum exploration and help ease winter energy supply issues.
Mr Jones said: in a statement: 'The ill-fated exploration ban in 2018 has exacerbated shortages in our domestic gas supply by obliterating new investment.'
Ms Ardern – who led the country between 2017 and 2023 – banned new offshore exploration in 2018, citing New Zealand's 'clean, green and sustainable future'.
She was seen as a champion of the environment, banning offshore gas exploration and declaring a 'climate emergency'.
But in the years since, energy prices in New Zealand have increased more than 10 per cent, even as households used less power.
Transpower, the state-owned company which manages the power grid, reported in May there is a higher risk of blackouts next winter because of a lack of energy supply.
The company said solar, wind and battery storage was not emerging quick enough to make up for dwindling supply from gas fields.
Jones described the exploration ban as 'the worst energy [and] natural resource decision' in New Zealand's history.
'We are not going to ... corrode the productivity of our economy by denying ourselves access to fossil fuels,' he said.
'The high tide mark of that heresy has come and gone.'
Asked if he consulted with indigenous Maori over the laws in a debate, Mr Jones, who is Maori, said: 'I interviewed myself.
'I spoke to no climate group. I spoke to no [Maori] group. I engaged with the people who are investing and who will be the risk takers to salvage and rescue this sector, and I'm extraordinarily proud of myself that I've done that.'
'Wrong-headed'
It was a stark U-turn for Mr Jones, who was a minister in Ms Ardern's government when the 2018 exploration ban was passed.
He had also voted in favour of the ban.
He recently described his former colleague as a 'political fugitive' who had fled the country to teach at Harvard.
Megan Woods, an energy spokeswoman from the opposition, said on Thursday the government was putting 'the interests of the oil and gas companies at the forefront'.
'Restarting oil and gas is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard.'
Steve Abel, a Green Party MP, said the government was 'wrong-headed and archaic'.
He added: 'It's extraordinary that here we are this many years later and they're bringing back oil and gas exploration after our nation was celebrated around the world for its vision.'
The government had planned to pass the legislation by the end of 2024, but it was delayed several times. A drafting error was cited as a reason.
The bill has many critics and was opposed by all opposition parties. However, it was voted through by a count of 68-54.
The government conceded, however, that new exploration was unlikely to bolster oil or gas supplies for at least another decade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
BP to review oil and gas projects to boost profits
BP has said it "can and will do better" to develop and monetise its oil and gas production as the energy giant continues to shift away from renewables and back to fossil fuels. Chief executive Murray Auchincloss said the UK-based firm would review how it manages its oil and gas assets and will consider cost cutting plans to boost returns for shareholders. The pledge comes after the company revealed it has made its largest oil and gas discovery this century off the coast of Brazil. BP has been under ongoing pressure from investors for underperforming compared to its rivals in recent years. In February, BP slashed its planned investments in renewable energy projects and said it would spend billions of dollars more a year on its oil and gas operations in a bid to improve investor confidence. On Tuesday, Mr Auchincloss said BP would conduct a "thorough review" of its businesses to make sure it was "maximising shareholder value moving forward". "We are also initiating a further cost review," he said. "BP can and will do better for its investors." The comments came after BP revealed on Monday that it was conducting tests at a new oil and gas site in deep water off Brazil's east coast. The discovery could play a major role in BP's plans to increase crude oil production. Company executive Gordon Birrell says the discovery is "BP's largest in 25 years" and that the firm will explore building a production hub there. BP said it had found a roughly 300-square-kilometre area of oil and gas at the Bumerangue block in the Santos basin, 250 miles (400km) off Brazil's east coast. It said the discovery was the company's biggest since the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea in 1999. The find adds to BP's several other discoveries of energy reserves this year, including those in the Gulf of Mexico, which is called the Gulf of America by the administration of US President Donald Trump, and Egypt. "This is another success in what has been an exceptional year so far for our exploration team", said Mr Birrell, the firm's executive vice president for production and operations. BP's attempt to transform itself into a "net zero" energy producer has faced major hurdles since it put the plan into action five years ago. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic pushed it to a $5.7bn (£4.29bn) annual loss. It also took a $25bn hit two years later from writing off a stake in its Russian energy business after the start of the Ukraine war. However, on Tuesday it revealed better-than-expected results for the second quarter of 2025. Underlying replacement cost profits fell by 15% compared with the same six months in 2024 to $2.4bn, but that was better than the $1.8bn analysts had forecast - and an improvement on the first quarter figure. Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said a "slick turnaround plan pumped up BP's second-quarter results", despite lower oil and gas prices. He attributed the performance to among other things, increases in production and the company "upping the ante when it comes to exploration and development", culminating in this week's announcement of the find at Bumerangue. BP's share price has come under pressure in recent years as it pumped billions of dollars into renewable energy, while rival companies benefited from soaring oil and gas prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Last month, BP announced it had appointed Albert Manifold to succeed Helge Lund as chair of the company. In April, Mr Lund announced his intention to step down, two months after BP revealed its plan to cut its renewable energy investments and instead focus on increasing oil and gas production. The energy giant had come under pressure from some investors who felt it was underperforming compared to rivals.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Hundreds of jobseeker payments cancelled illegally by government IT system, watchdog finds
The legality of the system designed to penalise jobseekers has been thrown into doubt after the commonwealth ombudsman found a government department's automatic system unlawfully cancelled payments. The ombudsman has found 964 jobseekers had their payments unlawfully cancelled between April 2022 and July 2024 by the automated IT system that underpins the targeted compliance framework (TCF) system. TCF is designed to make sure jobseekers meet requirements such as attending meetings with an employment provider and applying for jobs to continue to receive their payments. Payment cancellations have been paused since January after the government found a further 1,326 people had financial penalties 'applied incorrectly' due to an IT issue. On top of this, 45 people had their payments illegally cancelled because the system continued to operate in error. On Wednesday, the ombudsman found the payments had been cancelled unlawfully and recommended the government continue to pause cancellations until the it could review the legality of the entire TCF system. The ombudsman, Iain Anderson, said he investigated cancellations where public servants working at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations had failed to consider individual circumstances before cancelling a payment as laid down by law. 'They were just automating the cancellation without considering the individual circumstances of the jobseeker and whether it was appropriate to cancel the payment or not,' he told Guardian Australia. 'The target compliance framework itself has been very problematic in that regard.' Anderson said that in 2022 DEWR was also meant to put in a 'digital protection framework' to ensure jobseekers were treated fairly, but the department had failed to do so. Anderson said the secretary of DEWR, Natalie Jones, needed to be 'completely confident' the system was working properly before the cancellations resume. 'The targeted compliance framework has had a number of different problems, and so the secretary of DEWR needs to do much more than simply look at the unlawful cancellation issue. 'They need to be really certain that the entire target compliance framework is going to comply with the law and be fair.' He said there were also concerns as to whether the suspension of payments, which happens in tens of thousands of cases each month, was legal. 'We have some concerns as to whether the suspension process is happening fairly and reasonably,' he said. On top of this, Guardian Australia understands a Deloitte report into the IT system that underpins the TCF has found that it is not functioning within the proper legal frameworks. The Deloitte report – which has yet to be published – recommends overhauling the TCF's IT system to ensure that the suspension or cancellation of payments is done legally. The Greens have called for the government to abolish the TCF and release the report. 'It is clear that the TCF is an expensive hangover from a conservative government which has been heartlessly prolonged by this Labor government for far too long,' senator Penny Allman-Payne said. The DEWR is also conducting a legal review to examine the way decisions are being made under the legislation. The Ombudsman will continue to investigate the TCF with another report due out later in the year.
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
BP begins costs review as quarterly profits of £1.77bn beat forecast
The oil and gas group BP is launching a fresh cost-cutting scheme, despite reporting better-than-expected profits, as it tries to do more for its shareholders to fend off pressure from activist investors. It said it would begin a fresh review of its business when its new chair joins in September. BP reported a rise in profits to $2.35bn (£1.77bn) between April and June, a drop of 15% on the same period a year earlier, when the company benefited from higher oil and gas prices. However, it was an increase on the $1.38bn reported in the January to March quarter, and beat analysts' estimates of $1.8bn underlying profits. Murray Auchincloss, BP's chief executive, said in a statement on Tuesday that the FTSE 100 company had performed well 'operationally and strategically', even though crude oil is trading at about 10% lower than it was in the first quarter. Currently trading just under $66 a barrel, Brent crude prices were on average $80 a barrel in 2024. Auchincloss added: 'So far this year we've brought five new oil and gas major projects onstream, sanctioned four more and made 10 exploration discoveries'. Disclosing a 4% increase in the shareholder dividend to 8.32 cents in the first quarter, he said: 'BP can and will do better for its investors.' The CEO said he and the chair-elect, Albert Manifold, who takes up the position in October, had agreed to conduct a review of its businesses; earlier this year BP revealed it would cut more than $5bn from its previous green investment plan. Under the departing chair, Helge Lund, BP invested heavily in the offshore wind industry, which has suffered increasing costs in recent years, at the same time as its rivals were able to take advantage of the surge in fossil fuel prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The activist investor Elliott Management has also been pushing BP to cut its operating expenses more aggressively and has called for more cost reductions. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, said: 'Despite already announcing a round of significant cost-cutting, further efficiencies will be sought. 'At present BP still has a modestly larger workforce than Shell – based on the companies' respective last reported headcounts – despite being a significantly smaller business in terms of its valuation and annual revenue.' The results came a day after BP said it had made its largest oil and gas discovery of the past 25 years off the coast of Brazil, at a time when BP is shifting away from renewables and once again focusing on fossil fuels. BP is carrying out tests at the Santos basin, which is located in deep waters. It marks the company's 10th oil discovery of the year and could be its largest since its discovery at the Shah Deniz gasfield in Azerbaijan in 1999.
