Is the end of oil drilling in sight?
Labour: All options on the table when it comes to oil and gas exploration National: Regions would suffer job losses Union: It’s time to move away from fossil fuels Greenpeace: PM has ‘benefit of the doubt’
Up to 8000 people, about 10 per cent of Taranaki’s population, could be seriously affected if the Government went ahead and stopped future oil and gas exploration, a regional business leader says.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s statements this week that the Government was ‘‘actively considering everything’’ on the future of oil and gas exploration has put many in Taranaki on alert.
An economic report by tourism and economic body Venture Taranaki in March 2015 found the oil and gas industry pumped $1.57 billion into Taranaki’s total GDP.
The industry directly employed
4340 full-time workers and created
7070 jobs, the report said. A spokesman for the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand said Tamarind Resources has an offshore Taranaki well planned for the 2018-19 summer.
Permits held by Shell, OMV, New Zealand Oil & Gas, and Beach Energy off the east coast of the South Island were likely to be drilled in the 2019-20 summer.
Taranaki Chamber of Commerce chief executive Arun Chaudhari said any uncertainty in allowing future drilling permits would be ‘‘very detrimental’ to the local economy.
There would be flow-on effects on local businesses ranging from the dry-cleaning store which cleaned overalls, to shops, real estate and schools, he said.
Ardern was in a difficult position as she asked for more time to decide on whether to stop all permitting.
‘‘It is far too early for the Government to be saying anything about stopping permits as it is not addressing the reality; it’s only using ideology, not the methodology, on how it wants to achieve its aims.’’
The worst thing New Zealand could do was put up a sign saying it was closed for business and create a climate of uncertainty among the global oil and gas sector waiting for any shift in government policy, he said.
Chaudhari supported reskilling the workforce, which would be vulnerable to mass redundancies.
‘‘We need to change but it will not happen overnight.’’
Venture Taranaki chief executive Stuart Trundle said the region was already anticipating a move away from the current reliance on petroleum products. A plan to utilise the region’s energy expertise to develop new technologies was under way, he said.
‘‘The details of any transition process will be critical to the impact on the Taranaki region ... We look forward to working with the Prime Minister to identify evidence-based solutions to secure long-term jobs in the region.’’
E tu¯ regional organiser Ross Henderson said the region was already experiencing a downturn in exploration.
A transition plan away from fossil fuels was crucial, he said.
‘‘Oil is not a finite resource and there is a lot happening with renewable energy, like wind and solar, we can be looking at. We can’t continue to put so many eggs in the oil and gas basket.’’
The union supported a just transition where workers received fair redundancies, re-training and school leavers were encouraged to look for sustainable jobs.