Fossil Energy – New Zealand
According to Reuters, New Zealand said on Monday it would pass laws by the end of this year to reverse a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, and take urgent steps to remove regulatory hurdles to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) amid energy shortages.
The law would end the ban, in place since 2018, on exploration outside onshore Taranaki, an energy-rich region on the country’s North Island as the right-of-centre government plans to lure investment to the country’s oil and gas sector.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said severe shortages over the last few weeks had led energy prices to spike to some of the highest levels among developed economies.
“We are responding to a situation as I said New Zealand should never have seen in the first place,” Luxon said during a media briefing, and urged opposition parties to support the bill. “It would be the sensible, common sense thing to do if they genuinely cared about New Zealand’s energy security.”
