US EditionNew Zealand government votes to bring back fossil fuel exploration in major reversal
NEW ZEALAND, JUL 31 – The government reversed a 2018 ban amid energy supply concerns and rising prices, with the bill passing 68-54 and exploration permits opening beyond onshore Taranaki.
- On July 31, 2025, the New Zealand government voted to reverse the 2018 offshore exploration ban, passing the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill by 68-54.
- Since late 2023, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s government has rolled back Labour’s progressive policies, including re-opening offshore oil and gas exploration, reversing the 2018 ban.
- On Tuesday, a last-minute amendment assigned decommissioning costs to the Resources Minister and Finance Minister, allowing applications from September beyond onshore Taranaki after delays past end of 2024.
- Critics immediately said the decision favors oil and gas companies and is a setback for renewables, despite Shane Jones asserting it will boost energy security.
- Amid global climate debates, the International Energy Agency has stated no new fossil fuel exploration is needed to meet 2050 forecasts, and last week’s ICJ warned countries could face legal responsibility for emissions.
25 Articles
25 Articles
New Zealand is undoing Jacinda Ardern’s disastrous energy legacy
The centre-right government of New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon voted this week to overturn the previous Jacinda Ardern-led administration’s Starmeresque prohibition on new offshore oil and gas exploration. The earlier ban, enacted in 2018, was a major part of Ardern’s idealistic plan to shepherd the country of five million into a bright and limitless
New Zealand Reverses Ardern-Era Ban on Oil and Gas Exploration
New Zealand’s current government has reversed a ban on oil and gas exploration, scrapping a flagship policy introduced by the former Ardern Labour government in 2018. The bill passed its final reading in Parliament on July 31. The three-way right-leaning coalition government between the National Party, libertarian ACT, and New Zealand First had signalled the move before coming to power in 2023. Resources Minister Shane Jones—a senior NZ First MP…
Labor, Greens, media crying because New Zealand to resume oil and gas exploration - www.cairnsnews.org
THE Guardian (of everything “progressive”) has noted that “despite an outcry from the opposition and environmental groups” New Zealand’s government has voted to resume oil and gas exploration. Oh woe is us, the Kiwi greenies wail, oblivious to the fact that New Zealand has an energy crisis with electricity prices set to double in the […] The post Labor, Greens, media crying because New Zealand to resume oil and gas exploration appeared first on …
New Zealand Government Overturns Ban on New Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration
Today, New Zealand’s government passed legislation amending the Crown Minerals Act to reopen new offshore oil and gas exploration, a move that climate and energy experts at Oil Change International are calling an unjustifiable step backwards.Today’s vote follows the New Zealand government’s June exit from the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, an international coalition working together for a managed phaseout of oil and gas productionDavid Tong, Globa…
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New Zealand reverses ban on offshore oil and gas exploration
New Zealand's government voted Thursday to open the country for new oil and gas exploration, reversing a ban put in place under former prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
New Zealand Lifts Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration Ban
New Zealand reopens for oil and gas exploration after the country’s Parliament on Thursday voted to repeal a 2018 ban on offshore resource drilling. Back in 2018, the center-left government of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern banned offshore oil and gas exploration to protect New Zealand from the effects of climate change and help it reach its net-zero goals. The current coalition government has pushed for reversing the ban in a bid to str…
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