Let us test, says oil industry
A group representing the oil exploration industry says the opening up of new exploration areas near Lake Te Anau and a Maui’s dolphins sanctuary is not to be feared.
The two areas are part of the Government’s annual block offer to oil and gas companies who want to tender for exploration rights.
Green Party energy spokesman Gareth Hughes said tourists on their way into Milford Sound would be ‘‘horrified’’ by the Government’s decision to allow fossil fuel exploration in that part of the country.
But Cameron Madgwick, chief executive of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association (PEPANZ), said the permits were only for testing, not mining.
‘‘There’s a long way to go between a block offer announcing an area of land, any activity occurring, and then should activity occur, that local residents can be assured that the industry takes the environment and its impact very seriously.’’
Oil and gas exploration tenders are handled by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals under the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
National manager of petroleum Josh Adams confirmed the block did come up to Lake Te Anau at its southern end.
However, if a company was awarded the permit, he thought there was a very low chance it would conduct seismic tests near the township, ‘‘let alone up to the water’’.
Getting permission another process again.
‘‘There’s a full resource process requirement for companies before they can go and do that.’’
Western Southland was a relatively under-explored area and if there was oil or gas, it was more likely to be close to natural coal deposits in the middle of the block, around Ohai.
Success rates were low. ‘‘An offshore well in New Zealand, and it’s similar to onshore wells, only has a 30 per cent chance of finding oil or gas and that to drill was doesn’t mean it’s commercial. So it’s often a 70 to 75 per cent chance of finding nothing.’’
However, a find of natural gas in an area of high coal use was potentially a good thing for local heating needs and air quality, he said.
The western Southland block covers more than 3600 square kilometres stretching from north of Te Anau to the south, and south-east towards Invercargill.
Although there has long been talk about exploring off Southland’s coast, it is the first time that inland western Southland has been offered to energy explorers.
Across the country, this year’s block offer has opened up 481,735sqkm for permits near Northland, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, lower North Island and the Great Southern basin, off the coast of Oamaru.
Most of the blocks are offshore and were selected after receiving indications of interest from the industry. One of those blocks encroaches on a Taranaki marine sanctuary which protects the last remaining Maui’s dolphins.
‘‘There are only 63 Maui’s dolphins alive and drilling for oil and gas in the area that’s supposed to be their sanctuary puts every one of them at risk,’’ Hughes said.
However, Madgwick said there were already oil and gas facilities within the sanctuary area, namely the Pohokura gas field.
‘‘The suggestion made by some that the surveys we undertake in the sea have detrimental impacts on Maui dolphins, or other marine mammals for that matter, unfortunately don’t accord with the science.’’
Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins also reiterated the Government’s commitment to the dolphins.
Asked whether Te Anau residents should be concerned, Collins emphasised that no exploration was allowed anywhere near a national park or World Heritage Area.
To Southland, ‘‘petroleum development offers significant potential for economic growth to the region, and could help revitalise the local economy.’’