The New Zealand government has announced plans to introduce legislation by the end of this year to reverse the existing ban on offshore oil and gas exploration.
This move is part of efforts to address the nation’s ongoing energy shortages. Additionally, the government intends to remove regulatory barriers that hinder the importation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to stabilise the country’s energy supply.
The proposed legislation will lift the ban, which has been in place since 2018. The current right-of-centre government is looking to attract investment into New Zealand’s oil and gas sector, a shift from the previous centre-left Labour-led government’s policy, which prohibited offshore petroleum exploration.