Oil And Gas Bill Passed, Taxpayers Left On The Hook For Decommissioning Gas Wells

Scoop

4 days ago

31 July 2025. Climate campaigners say the government's Crown Minerals Amendment (CMA) Act is a 'golden parachute for big polluters—and a lead weight for the rest of of'. The Act clears the way for new fossil fuel exploration while gutting safeguards that ensure existing oil and gas companies pay for their clean-up. While the Act passed through the house, climate climbers took action at the largest coal mine in the country, and are still there (five days in) as this goes to print.
350 Aotearoa Co-Director Alva Feldmeier says, 'This bill is a legislative match tossed into a climate tinderbox. It doesn't just open New Zealand up to new climate-killing oil and gas drilling — it strips away financial safeguards, leaving taxpayers on the hook for future decommissioning costs. Without these financial securities and trailing liability, the government is at a higher risk of having to pay to decommission – or plug – a failed oil well. This is no hypothetical - the fossil fuel industry previously left the taxpayer with a $443 million bill to decommission the Tui oil field. The oil lobby is clearly writing the script— the Government is just reading their lines.'
'As floods and storms ravage across the world and climate scientists run out of adjectives to describe how urgent the situation is, Luxon's Government is forging ahead with reckless plans to search for new oil and gas, dig up more coal and shelve every initiative to reduce emissions that they can. It's another time we can peek through the drawn curtains of this government - a government run by shady lobbyists writing policy and being appointed to key positions.'
Shane Jones said in Parliament on Tuesday that 'only the oil and gas industry was an 'affected party' that needed to be consulted on this bill'. Nelson local and 350 campaigner Adam Currie responds, 'We put it to him that those of us in Whakatū Nelson, cleaning up from the last climate-fuelled storm are an affected party. How dare he claim we are not an affected party, the very same week we were working together as a community to clean up the silt and the mess from climate-fuelled storms driven by the very gas drilling this bill would enable? We put it to him that every New Zealand taxpayer is an affected party, for the public will now hold increased liability for cleaning up oil companies' mess.'
Feldmeier says, 'This bill does nothing for New Zealand's energy security. We know that new oil drilling would take over a decade to come online, and the International Energy Agency tells us that global demand for oil, gas, and coal is on track to peak well before then. It doesn't have to be this way. The people of Aotearoa have a historic opportunity to move away from fossil fuels to a clean energy future powered by wind and solar, which would mean more affordable, cleaner and reliable energy for New Zealanders. Instead of fiscally irresponsible false solutions, the government should be focused on creating a long-term energy strategy that charts a path away from this broken, fossil-fuelled system that is responsible for rising energy poverty and workers losing their jobs.'
Fenton Lutunatabua, 350.org Pacific Interim Team Lead says, 'Instead of securing a safe future for all countries in the Pacific, the New Zealand government has decided to hammer nails into our coffins. Many will feel this bill is a betrayal to Pacific neighbours, but it is in fact a betrayal of their own future generations as well. We see the increased flooding in New Zealand, and we mirror that pain in our own storm surge and coastal inundation. How the Luxon government thinks that repealing the oil and gas ban is the right decision for any of our futures is absurd.'
Feldmeier says, 'This bill repealing the oil and gas ban has forced NZ out of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) - an alliance that we were part of creating. Aotearoa once claimed to be a climate leader—today, we are an international embarrassment. Aotearoa helped build the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. Today, we've walked out on our own future—and become an international embarrassment. If climate destruction were a crime, this Government would be caught red-handed.'
'The Government is also jeopardising fresh trade agreements with the UK and EU, for MFAT advice confirms that restarting oil and gas exploration likely breaches these agreements.'