Global oil giant Petrobras to explore in NZ

Tuesday 1st June 2010 1 Comment

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee today announced that one of the world's largest oil companies, Petrobras, has been awarded exploration rights for oil and gas in the previously unexplored Raukumara Basin on the east coast of the North Island.

Snaring Petrobras is arguably Brownlee's biggest coup since emphatically putting the "welcome" mat out for oil and gas explorers over the last 18 months, and wooing oil majors at a global petroleum conference in Mexico earlier in the year.

The five year permit, covering 12,333sq km, is the first in the Raukumara Basin area.

Brownlee described Petrobas International Braspetro, owned by Brazilian company Petroleo Brasileiro, as one of the biggest players in the global oil and gas industry.

It has annual revenues of US$118.3 billion ($174.63 billion) and interests in 18 territories spanning Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Asia also make it Brazil's largest business.

The venture is the company's first in New Zealand, although it has recently farmed in to permits involving NZX-listed Cue Energy on the Australian North-West shelf, and was a "major step forward" in New Zealand's relationship with Brazil, Brownlee said.

The announcement comes as Prime Minister John Key indicates the government is watching the deep-sea drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico closely, and that Environment Minister Nick Smith will shortly be making announcements on the subject.

Responding to the Petrobras announcement, the Environmental Defence Society called for oil exploration to be made subject to an "exhaustive resource consenting process involving public hearings, assessment of environmental effects, and strict monitoring and bonds for non-performance."

"The simplest and most effective way of doing that would be to extend the scope of the Resource Management Act beyond the present 12 nautical mile limit off the coast," EDS director Gary Taylor said.

"It could give the new Environmental Protection Authority jurisdiction over all exploration and mining activities with it filling the role of the regional council for the purposes of the Act."

A National Environmental Standard would add robustness to that process, Taylor said.

Businesswire.co.nz

Comments from our readers

On 22 July 2010 at 9:37 pm Bronwyn Llewellyn said:

I want to know if this National Government is actually taking it's commitments to the Kyoto Protocol and the 'Copenhagen Process' seriously? The Copenhagen Process continues in November/December 2010 in Cancún, Mexico where delegates from all developed and developing countries will make commitments in writing to reduce the carbon/aerosol emissions within their nations/ territories. Continuing with the mining of fossil fuels shows me no serious commitment to lowering carbon emissions by 40% by the year 2020 - this is after-all, only 10 years away... Have we forgotten our commitment to The Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Process already Mesrs Key and Brownlee? It WAS a very reluctant Mr Key who was bundled on a plane Copenhagen-bound last December. This speaks for itself Sir ! The direction our country needs to be heading in, for a future worth living is the direction of sustainable, renewable energy sources... wind-farming, solar power, wave power... It's not as though we are over-populated and don't have enough land-space for these types of energy generation. Let's get our emissions down Honourable Members Key and Brownlee, not increase our taxable emissions by being lured into deals with big dirty oil companies. It IS, afterall, the taxpayer who will defray the cost of any penalties incurred for not achieving a 40% below 1990 carbon emissions decrease by 2020. It is bad enough that Fonterra continues to burn coal in it's process of milk powder and is subsidised by the tax-payer to the tune of 90%. Why does Fonterra take effectively no responsibility for it's emissions? Is this Commodities Trader (Fonterra) so important to the National Government's Free Trade Agreement with China that it is let off scot-free from burning dirty coal in it's processing plants? Why am I and 1,500,000 other taxpayers subsidising the penalties incurred by this company's activities? Let's do the Honourable thing and back New Zealanders by keeping our commitments to the United Nations, your commitments to the constituents of the Nation and our commitments to Planet Earth. There is, afterall, No planEt B