With the Government only allowing five days for consultation and submissions on its Crown Minerals Amendment Bill, GasNZ provided a brief response last week.

The GasNZ submission supported the repeal of the offshore oil and gas exploration ban and noted further steps that would support an orderly energy transition on New Zealand’s journey to net zero emissions by 2050.

The submission noted disappointment that the extremely limited consultation period “did not provide time for the considered scrutiny of the Bill and its specific proposals by all interested parties”, and was confined to the reversal of the offshore exploration ban.

On the exploration ban, the GasNZ submission noted that the ban showed the world that New Zealand’s regulatory regime for mineral exploration was subject to material sudden change, and was therefore higher risk than previously thought.

“This harmed New Zealand’s standing as an economy that welcomes major investments in long lead-time, long-lived energy infrastructure assets.

“That harm to investor confidence in our regulatory regime will have increased the cost to all New Zealanders of achieving our necessary transition to net-zero emissions by 2050, by both deferring decisions on new investments, and reducing actual and planned investment in existing assets.”

Read the full submission