Shane Jones: Resources Minister on the reports warning the $200m gas fund may not be enough for the sector

Officials warn the $200 million set aside to encourage gas exploration may be too small - with production falling and closure of the ageing Māui field looming.

The Government's widening the scope and terms of the commercial co-investment fund.

BusinessDesk reports a Cabinet paper released today states the field will stop production, with the rest of the sentence redacted.

Resources Minister Shane Jones says he isn't privy to when the closure will happen.

"We're suffering a decline in the known reserves from those historically large sites and they're working through the process - it's up to them to identify when it will actually cease."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Afternoon. It's been confirmed that Marui gas Field will close.
The confirmation came in official documents which have been released
and they have redacted exactly when the closure will happen though.
Resources Minister Shane Jones is with us high Shane.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Can you tell us when the closure is happening?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
No, sadly that information exclusively lies with the asset owner.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Is it December next year?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Anyway? As I said, can you.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Rule out its December next year?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Now, what I'd say is that we're suffering a decline
and the known reserves from those historically large sites and
they're working through the process. It's up to them to
identify when it will actually cease.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Okay, when I mean it looks here's the thing, Shane,
this is the rumor that's going around everybody. Everybody's talking
about being December next year. If that's the case, when
are they going to announce it? Like how far before
it actually happens? Because is this something we're going to
be dealing with an election time for you?

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Well, whichever way we cut it, it's a bigger of
a problem because we've grown up with gas. I don't know,
three to five dollars a unit, and it's declining and
for the last six to odd years there's been no
incentive to continue. It has an impact, no doubt on
methin X, which is an employer. So I don't want

(01:24):
to trivialize this the scale of this issue in terms
of its impact on Totmuckey, which is why I'm a
great supporter for accelerating the Einstein's mining off the coast
of Tutmucky.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
So if Marwi closes, which is going to happen, does
that necessarily mean that methin X closes as well?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well. Methadex, the Canadian known firm. They for each winter
tend to bulow some of their assets, ie, they sell
the gas into the market when there's a shortage for
electtionity purposes, and that's led to a god awful squabble

(02:05):
between the industrial users, the Crown users, and the electricity users.
And the electricity because you and I will pay over
the odds to keep the lights on, they tend to
dominate the buying power, so we need more gas.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, you haven't answered my question though. If Marwi closes,
does that necessarily mean method X closes?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah? Well, once again, it's really up to the CEO
and the managers and where else.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Did they get the gas from those shine they'd have
to close.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, I'll tell you what. The next person you should
have on the show is the CEO of Methodics and
let them explain how they're going to run their business.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
How much gas do we lose from Marwi closing?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, they've been trying to squeeze as much gas as
possible out and what they've found is that as they
get to a point where the gas is infused with
either too much water hydrogen, it no longer becomes commercial.
And let's not dance on the head of a pin.

(03:06):
I don't want to ruin your show. The reality is
we are struggling to maintain supplies of gas and it's
forcing up the cost of industry fuel costs and energy.
But I wouldn't want to look. I wouldn't want to
say anything on the show that unnecessarily spooks everyone, and
it's up to these two commercial people to identify it.
And obviously our officials are giving us various options in

(03:29):
relation to electricity. I mean, as we decrease our utilization
of gas, we're going to have to use more coal.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, well, I think that the truth, Shane. Thank you
very much, appreciate it. Shane Jones, Resources Minister. For more
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