Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19372] 
12.  
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: On what advice did he base his statement on  
Campbell Live 
 last week that the end of cheap oil will be “somewhere in the 2030s”? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 I think the first thing I would do would be to caution the member about taking out of context statements as necessarily for real. I have looked at the transcript and I think the question as put is not exactly the one that was put to me. We were talking about peak oil rather than cheap oil in my understanding. As the member is aware there are a lot of different opinions on this matter. The International Energy Agency foresees oil comfortably meeting demand to 2030. Analysis by the US Department of Energy has peak oil as early as 2021 or as late as 2067. So there is a median estimate of around 2037 but I must say that it is actually very hard to tell at this point. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: When the Minister made that statement had he seen the report the previous week that the US Department of Energy estimates that Saudi Arabia is pumping at 90 percent of full capacity now that the other OPEC countries say they are currently pumping at full capacity and that non-OPEC countries’ oil production has already peaked; if so how does he think that rapidly increasing demand for oil can be accommodated for another 30 years? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No because of the timing of the interview and the report. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Can the Minister inform the House and the country as to what steps the Government is taking to make New Zealand less reliant on oil as a source of energy? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: The promotion and development of renewable energy sources and the uptake of energy efficiency measures are key priorities for the Government. This is reflected in the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy which sets out targets for energy efficiency and the uptake of renewables. The New Zealand Transport Strategy also promotes a focus on improved energy efficiency in transport including increased funding for passenger transport and the promotion of alternatives to vehicles such as cycling and walking. 
Opposition Member 
: What about cycling? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I do quite a lot of cycling and looking at the way the member is going he should too. 
Gordon Copeland 
: Is the Minister aware that when it comes to New Zealand the oil explorers are not satisfied with the existing royalties regime and in fact see it as a disincentive to drill new wells at a time when the nation desperately needs more oil? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I would be very happy for either me or the Minister of Finance to give the member a briefing on that. I think the complaints are around existing wells and people who want the royalties on those wells reduced rather than the arrangements for new wells which I think oil companies are well satisfied with. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: I thank the Minister for listing all the Green Party initiatives on energy efficiency and renewables that the Government has agreed to and nevertheless ask why given this commitment to energy efficiency and renewables New Zealand is still importing a lot of motor vehicles that take between 12 and 15 litres to travel 100 kilometres when many cars now available on the market will do that distance on 5 to 6 litres and those cars will be available for another 10 years and will be sitting in garages when families cannot afford to fuel them? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think we are not yet at the point of dictating to people the sorts of cars that they can import. But we are giving due notice to people that the running costs of gas guzzlers will over a period of time almost certainly continue to rise. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Can the Minister explain how he is giving that advice to the purchasers of vehicles given that not only do we have no fuel efficiency standards for vehicles at all the way we do for many household appliances but also we still do not even have fuel efficiency labelling for vehicles; so how are people supposed to know what their vehicle will do when they buy it? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: For the vast majority of cars that are imported their efficiency standards are widely publicly available. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Does the Minister agree with Treasury that the futures market is a good predictor of the future of oil prices; if so is he concerned that a New York futures trader this week purchased options for $100-a-barrel oil by June this year? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I sometimes agree with Treasury I sometimes do not agree with it and I have not had advice on the question of the futures price for oil this week. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Is the Minister aware of any other Green Party in the world—other than the New Zealand Green Party—that thinks that oil prices should be cheap? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I have had no such reports. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I thank the Minister for the succinctness of that answer.