John Carnegie: Energy Resources Aotearoa CEO on $200 million contingency fund for new gas fields

An oil and gas lobby group is celebrating the Government's 200 million dollars for gas fields.

Resource Minister Shane Jones announced the money would be used to co-invest with developers to start new fields.

Energy Resource Aotearoa Chief Executive John Caregie told Mike Hosking it's a positive signal to the sector.

He says it will tilt the economic signals from negative to neutral.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
My favorite bit of you can apply that phrase to
a budget is there's two hundred million dollars in due
exploration for gas. It's basically a skin in the game fund.
It sends a message to the industry the government is
serious about getting back into this business. The energy resources
out here are Chief Executive John Carnegie's back with us,
John morning.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, good morning. Mind.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
This is reputational for the country and the government does
it work well?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Look, we think it will. I mean it's important to
put it under perspective, of course, because over the last
seven years all of the policy signals for the sector
have been unremittingly negative. So this and the changes the
government's now looking to make in the bill which is
in Parliament at the moment, will tilt the economic signals
back towards neutral and in doing so tilt investment confidence

(00:45):
back towards investing. So is it a positive signal yet?
Absolutely not a.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Ten or fifteen percent? Is it enough? I mean, if
I'm coming to the country and I've got the government
coming in at that level, am I thinking good on them?
Or am I still taking a very big risk?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Oh? Look, and it's important to put it into perspective.
It the number would set around about twenty percent of
the capital invested in the sector over the past few years,
so it's not insignificant. And these projects do require huge
amounts of capital, so even a little government participation can
help de risk and catalyze investment. And it's also I

(01:21):
think important to think about the upside because of course,
while it may be as much about signaling government's intent
to partner with the industry, it could also prove to
be incredibly lucrative for the ground, especially if it's successful
and you know, the industry starts paying more royalties, tax

(01:41):
and the wider economic benefits of such.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Things exactly flip side of that and the Greens will
be all over it. If you find nothing, though, and
that's government money down the drain.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, you know, I think as you will recognize that
finding our energy system lurching from crisis to crime that
we've been doing since twenty eighteen. So look, you know,
people can call it what they want. We call it
an investment and now economic an energy future.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Good all right, John, appreciate it. John Carnegie Energy Resources
with us this morning for more from the Mic Asking Breakfast,
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