(01-10-2025, 01:16 PM)heisenberg Wrote: if only ardern hadnt fucked up the oil/gas explorationNZ has explored its land and offshore territories up the wazoo. The only known gas reserve of any significance is the Karewa field 45km off of Raglan. Todd have no plans to develop this field even with the promised input of $200 million from the government. Considering it is expected to contain only enough gas to fill NZ's consumption in a single year that's probably not surprising on Todd's part.
That decision may be revisited when Maui shuts down next year but the undeniable fact is that NZ is close to running out of natural gas, and it has little to do with the Labour government's exploration ban; it's because we've pretty much found and used all there is here. That's why the government is planning to import LNG, which will provide a short sugar hit but expect gas and electricity prices to rise significantly as a result.
I have a background of working both on and offshore oil and gas projects and I can assure you that anyone claiming that the previous government's offshore oil and gas ban is the cause of our looming energy crisis is blowing smoke out of their arse. NZ is running on empty and the current government is in a flat panic to deflect blame and try to formulate solutions but the problem has been decades in the making and they've now got a 'perfect storm' on their plate and they will be crucified at the ballot box if they don't manage to pull a rabbit of the hat on this one.