1. Petroleum Development and Environmental Conflict in Aotearoa NZ
Dr Terrence Loomis

2. The NZ petroleum industry
Over 100 years in existence, concentrated in the Taranaki region
17 other petroleum basins with ‘huge unexplored potential’
More than 20 major and medium capital E&P companies operating
Over 190 drilling, geoscience, engineering and service companies
Crude oil exports contributed $2.2 billion to GDP (in 2009)
$700 million in royalties & tax revenues (in 2009)
3700 full time employees (in 2010)
275 exploration permits issued since 1995

3. Why National chose to expand O&G development in NZ?
The 2008 international financial crisis (the Great Recession)
A mounting government debt burden and lagging GDP
A ‘sustainable GROWTH’ (neoliberal) ideology informing economic development policy
A global commodities boom; O&G industry interest in NZ’s ‘frontier’ potential
Formulation of the Business Growth Agenda aimed at boosting petroleum exports tenfold to $30 bn by 2020

4. Government’s manoeuvres to expedite oil and gas development

5. A coordinated legislative reform agenda (RMA etc)
‘Factual’ information dissemination (MBIE: E Coast)
Ministerial propaganda, cheerleading and jawboning
Subverting local community power
Agenda-driven funding: subsidising international
investment and ‘buying’ community compliance
Encouraging local government gate-keeping and
O&G advocacy

6. Industry strategies to promote and defend the oil and gas industry

7. PR spin and ‘reasoned’ debate targeted at Middle NZ
Neutralising environmental opposition
Influencing government policies and regulations
Co-opting communities and ‘partnering’ with iwi

8. Environmentalist & community group activities

9. Grassroots research – sometimes called “citizen science”
Public awareness-raising, information dissemination and education
Engaging with and influencing government institutions
Organisation, multi-level networking and alliance-building
Confronting oil and gas corporations and exposing their strategies
Māori self-determined development and anti-oil resistance

10. Is government investment in O&G devt a good idea? the global context
Unconventional (fracking) shale gas/tight oil boom & bust
Increasingly volatile oil and gas markets
Mounting evidence of industry risk and harm
Paris Climate Accords (leave 70% of reserves unburned)
Growing shareholder/finance sector concern over ‘stranded assets’ & govt subsidies
Big Oil companies planning to transition out of fossil fuels
TAG Oil’s Waitangi Valley-1 well, Gisborne

11. Local context: Unimpressive industry performance
Job, contractor cuts: Taranaki 7.3% unemployment in 2015 (highest in NZ)
Crude oil contribution to GDP $1.7b in 2016, down 23% over five years
Rapid drop in annual permits (1 in 2016); only 17% of 275 issued still active
Royalties and tax revenues down from $700m in 2009 to just over $300m last year
Permit fees down 32% over past six years
150 ‘dangerous occurrence notifications’ reported to the High Hazards Unit between
Companies exiting or reducing CAPEX, focusing on seismic & existing production, and hoping for a market upturn (i.e. boom and bust cycles)

12. Political conflict has undermined state and civil/LG sector institutional relations
Paternalistic state centralism is undercutting emergent localism & community empowerment
Representative governance superseding participatory democracy
‘Sustainable growth’ pre- empting a ‘sustainable development’ approach to resource management

13. Four key messages from my research
1. Mounting evidence of petroleum industry risk and harm
2. The petroleum industry is a bad government investment
3. Government’s push for expanded O&G development is undermining long-standing institutional relations and values between the state and civil society
4. Communities, NGOs & councils have less influence over energy policy, regional development & natural resource management (signs of the ‘Resource Curse’?)

14.
Lexington Books
An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD USA