Jonathan Young - Energy and Resources

26 July 2018

New Zealanders who rely on gas for power and heating are in trouble, with shortages forecast in every year of the 2020s, in part as a result of the Government’s ban on future offshore oil and gas exploration National’s spokesperson for Energy and Resources Jonathan Young says.

“Annual figures released to MBIE by the hydrocarbon producers show that in 2020 the forecast gas supply is significantly less than even current demand - so in just two years’ time New Zealanders may have to go without their summer barbeques.

“In fact, the predicted shortage in 2020 bigger than New Zealand’s entire annual residential gas usage.

“The Government has banned any new offshore gas exploration and created great uncertainty about onshore exploration. This uncertainty is going to directly impact on New Zealanders sooner rather than later through shortages or price hikes.

“A reliable and resilient supply chain is vital for New Zealand’s economic wellbeing. Gas outages have the potential to cripple parts of the country and cause millions of dollars in lost business.

“Not only is this ban having significant consequences for people’s jobs, the economy, and the environment but the resulting gas shortage would also send us back to the days of energy uncertainty and jumps in prices.

“The Government keeps saying we have ten years of gas supply left, but the amount available falls over time - meaning in 2020 and beyond supply falls significantly short of what is needed to meet demand.

“The Government must guarantee that New Zealanders won’t face outages or significant price hikes as a result of their ban on oil and gas exploration.”

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