Testing times lie ahead in the oil and gas exploration sector, with the Government throwing open its 2014 block exploration tendering round yesterday as protesters converge on Anadarko's drilling ship Noble Bob Douglas off Taranaki.
Consultation for the 2014 block tender finished yesterday,
but has been criticised by some North Island iwi, with the block tender open until September, and permits awarded in December next year.
Anadarko plans to use Noble Bob Douglas in a one-hole exploration drilling programme off the coast from Oamaru about 100km from Dunedin next year.
As several yachts from around the country prepared to greet Noble Bob Douglas, and test new, controversial laws designed to keep protesters' boats clear of exploration ships, the Minister for Economic Development, Steven Joyce, yesterday released the latest in a series of multi-sector reports, focusing on petroleum and minerals in this issue.
Mr Joyce said the petroleum and minerals sectors, excluding coal, had seen exports almost triple since 2002 and totalled $2.79 billion for 2012.
Demand for petroleum and minerals, largely driven by emerging Asian economies, has prompted a ''substantial'' investment increase in exploration and and resource extraction in New Zealand.
''New Zealand's petroleum and minerals sector is benefiting from these trends, with substantial growth for more than 10 years. Employment has doubled and exports have tripled,'' Mr Joyce said.
During the past six years, $8.2 billion was invested in petroleum exploration, with $1.9 billion in royalties and levies to the Government, including $380 million in 2012.
However, public attention has become sharpened by the risks involved in oil and gas exploration in the wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deep Water Horizon disaster, then the oil spill following the Rena grounding on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga in October 2011.
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals said 63 local authorities were notified of the 2014 offer and 99 iwi and hapu were consulted.
Excluded from the block offer is schedule 4-designated conservation land, World Heritage areas and marine reserves.
