Greymouth Gas sues ministers over ban
A New Zealand-owned oil and gas company is suing the Government over its moves to end new oil exploration permits.
In a statement, Greymouth Gas, a company owned by Greymouth Petroleum, said it had filed claims in the High Court ‘‘challenging decisions made by Energy Minister Hon Megan Woods and the Ministers of Government coalition parties’’.
According to the company, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s statement on April 12, when she announced that there would be no new offshore oil exploration permits, ‘‘was unlawful’’.
Greymouth Gas also claims that Energy Minister Megan Woods’ decision not to award the company an offshore coastal permit in 2017 ‘‘was not justified’’.
‘‘Greymouth’s bid for an offshore coastal permit was better than a successful bid for a comparable permit made by a Chinese new entrant with no material standing in the New Zealand petroleum business.’’
In the 2017 block offer – the process under which permits have been offered to the industry since 2012 – Woods granted only one permit, 547 square kilometres on waters to the south of Taranaki, to Westside New Zealand.
Although the company was described as an Australian oil company active in Queensland, it is ultimately owned by China’s Landbridge Group.
A spokesman for Woods said that, as the matter was before the courts, she would not comment.
Greymouth Petroleum chairman Mark Dunphy said his company was not ‘‘big oil’’. Dunphy, who the National
Business Review estimates is worth more than $200 million, said New Zealand petrol firms rely on block offers ‘‘to ensure transparency [and] contestability, maintain competitiveness and grow their businesses’’.
‘‘It is quite wrong for the Crown to undermine the competitiveness of a New Zealand company whilst favouring a Chineseowned company ... The policy change is abrupt, counterproductive, comes too soon and will add to current gas shortages.’’
Dunphy said he was seeking to have the permit that the company applied for in 2017 awarded to it.
‘‘We had the impression in relation to the bid that we made that all was going swimmingly, actually, until the new Government was appointed. So I don’t know what caused the difficulty, but it does rile that a lesser bid by a foreign company should lead to a permit award, when ours ended in the opposite result.’’
He said he did not intend to speak publicly about the case, but the Crown revealed it was happening in legislation designed to give effect to the Government’s decision. Several clauses in the Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Bill allude to the action by Greymouth Gas.