Govt scraps oil and gas exploration ban

New Zealand's government voted yesterday to open the country for new oil and gas (O&G) exploration, reversing a ban put in place under former prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

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Resources minister Shane Jones — who described climate change as “largely moral hysteria” — said new laws would stoke investment in petroleum exploration and help ease winter energy supply issues.

“The ill-fated exploration ban in 2018 has exacerbated shortages in our domestic gas supply by obliterating new investment,” Mr Jones said in a statement.

Former premier Ardern banned new offshore exploration to much fanfare in 2018, citing New Zealand’s “clean, green and sustainable future”.

Mr Jones described that ban as “the worst energy (and) natural resource decision” in New Zealand’s history.

“We are not going to... corrode the productivity of our economy by denying ourselves access to fossil fuels,” he said.

“The high tide mark of that heresy has come and gone.”

During a vigorous debate over the laws, Jones was asked if he consulted with indigenous Maori.