A presentation to the monthly 'Green Drinks' network in Rotorua on the recent exploration activities of multinational petroleum companies operating around the East Coast of New Zealand, central government facilitation and local communities resistance.

2. Overview
 Introduction
 CMA, RMA & EEZ
 Offshore:
 Permits / Petrobras / Opposition / Update
 Onshore
 Permits / TAG&Apache / Opposition / Update
 What can we do?

3. Introduction

4. CMA, RMA & EEZ
 Crown Minerals Act:
 Crown assumed ownership of all petroleum & minerals in 1939, Sir Apirana
Ngata strongly opposed this move
 Petroleum Act replaced in 1991 by CMA
 2006 four national hui to identify sensitive areas for Maori
 Currently being reviewed to relax regulations
 Resource Management Act:
 Delegates most environmental regulatory authority to regional councils (out to
12 nautical mile boundary)
 Councils delegate most responsibilities to staff
 Significant public interest not grounds for notification
 Exclusive Economic Zone:
 No legislation, Bill currently with Select Committee, submissions closed.

5. Offshore Drilling

6.  Brazillian company Petrobras
was in 2010 given a
12,330km2 five-year oil and
gas exploration permit by NZ
Government.
 The permit area starts 4 km off
the East Coast out to 110 km.
 Three stages to the permit:
 Stage 1 – Gathering 2D
seismic data
 Stage 2 – Gathering 3D
seismic data
 Stage 3 – If proven viable
Petrobras will drill an
exploratory well.

8. Petrobras P36, March 2001
“Petrobras has established new global benchmarks for the generation of exceptional shareholder wealth
through an aggressive and innovative programme of cost cutting on its P36 production facility…”

9. Petrobras Wall of Shame
2011-2012
 oil leak from another well at Roncador field, 500m from Nov 2011 spill (Apr 2012); two
offshore oil spills: one small and one undisclosed amount (Mar 2012); Petrobras rig fire, oil
and drilling fluid spill off Rio (Mar 2012); 30 barrels spilt from a Petrobras rig off Rio on
(Feb 2012); 160 barrels of oil leaked from Petrobras platform offshore from Sao Paulo (Jan
2012)
 death of another Petrobras employee and injury of two others in a Boxing Day accident on
the PUB-03 oil rig in offshore waters in Rio Grande do Norte state (Dec 2011)
 Police say material dumped in the river from Petrobras refinery violated the limits set by
environmental law.
 a spill from a project co-owned by Petrobras and Chevron spewed 3,000 barrels of oil into
the sea and took a week to get under control. Local government authorities have taken a civil
lawsuit against the polluters claiming US$11billion in damages.
 Petrobras worker killed and his colleague badly disfigured from a refinery explosion in
Argentina that was similar to another fatal accident two years earlier.
 major incident in the Gulf of Mexico involved a deep sea riser coming loose with a 130 tonne
buoy narrowly missing another rig as the company prepared to start the first new extraction
since the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Had the break happened a few days later when oil had
started pumping, analysts claim it could have resulted in a disaster similar to the BP oil
leak in 2010.

10. Opposition

11. Opposition

14. Opposition

15. Opposition

16. Onshore Drilling

17. History of Onshore Exploration
 East Coast basin is 120,000 sq km between East Cape and Kaikoura, and about half the area,
comprising the Raukūmara Peninsula, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, and Marlborough, is onshore.
 More oil and gas seeps than elsewhere in New Zealand. The phenomenon was known to Māori and
attracted the attention of European prospectors from the 1880s onwards.
 Two wells sunk at Waitangi Hill in 1874 and 1875, but, while there were indications of high-pressure gas and
oil, the company folded under financial difficulties the following year.
 South Pacific Petroleum also sank its first wells at Waitangi Hill, with one producing enough oil to cart downhill
and sell at Gisborne.
 A new site on the Waingaromia valley floor was tried in 1884 and oil was encountered, producing between 20
and 50 barrels per day.
 In late 1887, escaping gas was ignited by the boilers and the wooden rig burned down. The rig was
rebuilt, but investors had lost confidence and the company closed in 1890. However, Waingaromia
remains the most productive oil well drilled in the East Coast basin to date.

18. Permit 38348 Te P
Expires: 7/11/2011 To
Ba
Area: 1606 SQKM
Location: East Coast
Basin
Operation Name:
Waitangi Hill
Whatatutu Tol
Minerals: Oil,
Condensate, LPG,
Petroleum, Gas Te Karaka
Whangara

19. Te Karaka
Permit 50940
Expires: 2/4/2014
Area: 274.7 SQKM
Location: East Coast
Basin Whan
Manutuke
Operation Name:
Onshore Gisborne area
Minerals: Oil,
Condensate, LPG, Muriwai
Petroleum, Gas

24. Company Profiles

25. How does mining happen?
1. Government issues a permit
2. Land owners negotiate access
3. Council issues Resource Consents

26. What are the benefits?
Probable:
1. a few local jobs
2. some increase in local economic activity
3. government royalties
Possible:
1. significant number of local jobs
2. high increase in local economic activity

27. What are the risks?
Risk Likelihood Impact
polluted surface water/waterways High Medium
polluted land High Medium
polluted underground aquifers Low High
polluted air High Medium
significant earthquakes Low Low?
social impacts Guaranteed Medium
cultural impacts Guaranteed High
economic impacts Guaranteed Medium
greenhouse gas emissions Guaranteed High

28. Where to from here?
- ongoing efforts for greater participation and transparency in
consents, monitoring and reporting processes
- building support for moratorium on fracking (at least till the
PCE's report is released), with eventual bans in some areas
- increased accountability in company operations
- avoiding/minimizing damage to the environment and natural
resources
- protecting local residents affected by fracking and oil/gas
operations

29. Where to from here?