Shane Jones: Resources Minister on the report that warns gas supplies could run out by 2029

A new Government paper suggests gas demand could outpace supply before the turn of the decade.  

The briefing from Resources Minister Shane Jones delivers a strong warning for the coming years.  

It says, unless the country finds new gas or alternative power generation, there won't be enough gas from 2029.  

Jones told Mike Hosking there will be some available, but it will be snapped up by industrial companies.  

He says the crisis will be caused by businesses which continue to be reliant on gas. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
More warnings from our power sector. A new paper suggests
that without new gas then industrial, commercial and domestic users
that all of us really could run dry by twenty
twenty nine. It also raises fears that New Zealander of
New Zealand' and d industrialization. Our Resources Minister Shane Jones
is with as Shane.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Morning, Hey, morning vote, How how.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Worried is the government right here right now on this.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well? Obviously the gas fields off the coast and Taranaki
have declined precipitously and no one imagined that they were
dropped so quickly. And since twenty eighteen, no one's been
encouraged or incentivised or quite frankly allowed to go out
and re establish the oil and gas industry up to
just under juvenile call. And it's had a devastating effect,

(00:45):
especially in Taranaki and a lot of our firms they
would like to move on from gas, but the period
of time it's going to require and the cost means,
as Catherine Rich said, a lot of people there are
very doubtful.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Are we really going to run dry in four years time?

Speaker 2 (01:02):
In simple terms, what's going to happen in twenty nine
point thirty in the event that we either don't put
gas or we don't find a major find is that
the demand will still be there, but the supply will
be below the demand, and there will be a fraction
of gas available but for those big users, and quite frankly,
the energy companies use quite a lot of gas and

(01:23):
they can pay because they hand it on to you
and I That's what the crisis will be. There will
be too many businesses in New Zealand still dependent on gas,
and the supply of the gas will be below their
need for.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Gas, and so the price will go up, and only
those who can afford it will do it. So where
are the meetings at? Can you degas a company? Do
they want to degas? Are their alternatives as any of
that real?

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well? Some of them are endeavoring to shift I mean
full marks to the Genesis. It is probably the CEO
that I can understand most lucidly, the chap who Malcolm,
the chap who runs Genesis. He has said that they
are willing to what gas they have make it available
for industrial people, and they will continue to import coal.

(02:11):
But I'm waiting for them to start digging up the
coal ten meters or ten kilometers away from Huntry rather
than bring coal in from Indonesia. We have the ability
to make more gas available if we burn more coal
in the short term. Both of those were demonized and
tainted by j Cinda and Megan Woods, who, by the way,
is still going to overturn our legislation and reinstate the ban.

(02:35):
That's our mad things are.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Exactly Is the LPG idea real or not? I mean,
can we bring it in from a strayer at a
cost that we can afford or not?

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Well, when you and I grew up, our gas was
two to three four dollars at most. It then went
up to twelve to fifteen in the last eighteen months
twenty four months. We've been advised that we can bring
it in from, if not Australia, from America and other places.
But it's likely to be north of twenty dollars. A
big change for a country that's being used to bind

(03:03):
gas at two to four dollars.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Exactly, all right, mate, nice to talk, appreciate it. Shane Jones,
Resources Minister. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen
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