The Environmental Protection Authority has opened public submissions on a marine discharge consent application from Beach Energy Resources NZ (Holdings) Limited for activity in the Canterbury Basin.

Beach Energy Resources NZ (Holdings) Limited has applied for a consent to discharge trace amounts of harmful substances from the deck drains of a Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU). Trace amounts of harmful substances are sometimes included in deck drainage when residual amounts remain on the decks after the clean-up of minor spills.

This relates to Beach Energy’s exploration and appraisal drilling programme within exploration permit PEP38264.

Appraisal wells are used to test how much oil or gas is present, and how far it goes down. This will allow Beach Energy to determine if it is worth applying for consents to proceed to production drilling and extract any oil and gas reserves.

Submissions are open until Friday 6 July 2020.

Once submissions close, if any parties request to be heard, a public hearing will be held within 40 working days.

This is a publicly notified process under the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Act.

The applicant will also need additional EEZ Act consents for any drilling to go ahead as part of its exploration and appraisal drilling programme. Applications for these consents will be considered by an Environmental Protection Authority appointed decision-making committee. As the EEZ Act regulations classify exploration drilling as a non-notified process, a submission process does not take place for these applications.

Read more about the application and how to make a submission

Find out about Beach Energy’s plans for oil and gas exploration in the Canterbury Basin

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