LAST week NZ Resources Minister Shane Jones, stood up in Parliament and held up a small jar of crude oil from the Maui gas field off the coast of Taranaki. “With your blessings Mr Speaker, I would like to take the lid off and invite the Green Party to sniff it.”
He went on to express concerns that if he did the same to the Maori Party members they might claim ownership of it. It was a great stunt from a talented public speaker.
But New Zealand’s legions of brainwashed young greenies inhabiting the media were much less enthusiastic, and attempted to spin all sorts of reasons why the government’s $200 million budget for gas exploration was just not a great idea in this alleged age of “green transition”.
The policy change technically violates New Zealand’s commitment to “net zero by 2050” although the country still has legislation enforcing the stupid ideology put in place by previous Labor governments.
Stuff.co (aka Stuffed) journalist Glenn McConnell, quoted “the Green Party and other commentators” as saying they feared Jones had “taken the lid off a very expensive can of worms. They say he is putting international trade at risk”.
“In various free trade deals, the New Zealand Government has made promises that it would not unnecessarily fund any fossil fuel industries. It has also promised to wind down the production and use of fossil fuels in New Zealand,” he stated, referring to some of the economic sabotage by the previous Labor Green-Left regime of Jacinda Ardern.
He also said a more recent agreement signed just months ago by Trade Minister Todd McClay, committed New Zealand to “eliminating harmful fossil fuel subsidies”. Who on earth would be making such demands on a trade partner, we ask? A country with lots of oil and gas for sale?
Regardless, the Luxon-led coalition is calling it an “investment fund”, so technically it’s not a subsidy.
Dan Brunskill, another young journo from the online business media outfit Interest.co.nz also seemed confused as to whether restarting gas exploration was a good business idea but went on to explain how output from existing gas fields had declined and was now insufficient to meet demand from electricity generators and industrial users. Hello?
“When power shortages hit last year, it was partly due to the lack of natural gas — though the link to the exploration ban remains speculative,” he wrote. Did he miss the obvious link between the absence of a local gas exploration industry and a shortage of gas?
He further explained “even if he succeeds” Shane Jones’ plan could take a decade before new gas fields begin supplying energy. “Critics argue that this time and money should be spent transitioning away from natural gas to lower-emission energy sources.”
Yes, critics fixated on the non-issue of carbon emissions would suggest fermented carrot juice as an alternative fuel if there was the slightest hint if might work, let alone the stupidly expensive hydrogen and the wind/solar unreliables.
Brunskill then goes on to make another admission that torpedoes his own scepticism: “Natural gas makes up only a small share of New Zealand’s overall energy use, but it remains essential in regions like Taranaki and underpins the electricity supply during dry weather.”
Indeed, New Zealand is heavily dependent on hydro-electricity, but in a dry season it’s just another “unrelliable”, which is why the country has a coal-gas 1.4MW power station at Huntly, south of Auckland to supply reliable baseload electricity.
Brunskill goes on to further torpedo his sceptical tone: “The drop in gas production last year, combined with low hydro storage, sent electricity prices to record highs. This forced manufacturers like Methanex’s Motunui plant, Winstone Pulp’s mills, and Oji’s Penrose facility to scale back or shut down.”
Yes, well done Ardern Labor-Greens: Their methodology of economic sabotage by destruction of energy supply was showing promise as a workable model. Excuse the sarcasm.
New Zealand is somewhat lucky that the current PM Luxon at least has some understanding of the role of energy in making an economy function. Now Jones’ job is to find an interested partner in reviving the gas and oil industry that provided Kiwis with one of their biggest economic booms back in the 1970s.
But the lesson in economic sabotage was still not understood by the Interest.co.nz journalist: “Still, critics argue that the solution isn’t more oil and gas exploration, but helping these industries transition away from fossil fuels. That could mean switching to electricity or hydrogen, alongside investment in batteries and renewable generation to manage supply.”
Young Mr Brunskill needs to look across the Tasman a bit more where, for starters, he would have learned that that all the hype around “the great green hydrogen dream” has been falling in a heap because of lack of customers and finance.
The $15 billion Desert Bloom hydrogen project in the Northern Territory was abandoned in May while Twiggy Forrest of Fortescue cut another 90 jobs in his failing hydrogen projects.
The Australian reported: “The Albanese government’s $2bn program has also come under attack, with none of the six short-listed prohjects now considered bankable after financial sponsors left or the developments were paused, Singapore-based HySiights said.”
As for batteries, only a bunny would consider them as a viable source of electricity for heavy industry. They are essentially a stop gap measure to smooth out the frequent gaps in wind and solar power supply. Gas and coal continue to provide the basis of a secure energy supply.
