The Regulatory Environment

Petroleum resources are publicly owned and the Government seeks to maximise the value of this resource for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

Under the Crown Minerals Act 1991, the Government chooses whether to allow exploration, development and production of petroleum resources, in which locations and on what terms. Other regulations then apply to how the required activities are undertaken.

Domestic and international oil companies invest in exploring for, and developing and producing those petroleum resources on behalf of the Government, which in turn receives a substantial share of the returns made in the forms of royalties and taxes.

Good health and safety and environmental practices are integral to the operation of the oil and gas industry.  The upstream oil industry is subject to, and supports thorough regulation and oversight.

In recent years, major regulatory reform of health, safety and environmental legislation has taken place to bring New Zealand’s regime into line with global best practice approaches.

The sector has some of the most developed approaches to health and safety management and the industry’s culture in New Zealand is internationally regarded, stringent and uncompromising, ensuring our workers are safe.

Oil and gas workers are safer and suffer less accidents, in gross quantity and per worker, than all other primary industries in New Zealand.

In fact, due to an all-encompassing risk management procedures, oil and gas workers at production facilities are around four times less likely to experience an accident in their workplace than they are at home.