Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19643] 
11.  
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: Has he received an invitation from the International Energy Agency to comment on its draft report  
Saving Oil in a Hurry: Measures for Rapid Demand Restraint in Transport 
; if so how will he respond? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 No I have not. New Zealand officials attended an International Energy Agency workshop on saving oil in a hurry and demand restraint measures for transport on 7 and 8 March this year. I am advised that the key messages from that workshop will be incorporated into the International Energy Agency publication referred to in the question but not yet published. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Can the Minister confirm that New Zealand is a signatory to the Agreement on an International Energy Program of 1974 which requires signatories to develop a rapid demand response to oil shortages; if that is the case what are the measures in New Zealand’s plan and in what order will they be implemented? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I will take the member’s word on the timing of the convention. On the response measures in crude oil we have seen some publicity around that. As far as the details of the response plan go if the member would like that from me I am happy to arrange a briefing for her. 
Gordon Copeland 
: Is the Minister aware that the price of oil per barrel would have to reach US$104 to be in real terms where it was in 1979 and 1980; and does he therefore believe that it would be prudent for us to proceed on these matters with a degree of caution rather than a degree of panic as has sometimes come through in Jeanette Fitzsimons’ questions to him? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Again I will take the member’s word as to the cost of living. I think that the Greens are right to put these matters before us but I do not feel quite the same sense of urgency that they do. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: With reference to that last question is the Minister aware that Goldman Sachs is predicting a price of over US$100 per barrel shortly and that there has already been a futures trade for US$100 per barrel for June this year? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I am not aware of the Goldman Sachs predictions. I am aware of the futures trade and I have my bike out. 
Peter Brown 
: Is the Minister aware that Green members are going around this country talking about peak oil; and does the Minister share New Zealand First’s view that there is a difference between high-priced oil and peak oil and that it does a great disservice to New Zealand as a whole for party members to go scaremongering around the country as Greens members have been? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think there is agreement that at some stage peak oil will occur. There is no doubt—it is a question of when. We have seen estimates that have gone out to the 2060s on that. There is a consensus amongst some commentators that it will occur in the 2030s but I do not see any real sign of panic at the pumps at the moment. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the Minister concerned that the report  
Saving Oil in a Hurry: Measures for Rapid Demand Restraint in Transport 
 states that increased use of public transport can contribute little to saving oil quickly in New Zealand unlike other countries because we lack the buses trains and ferries that would be needed to expand services urgently; would it not be better to prepare now by building those systems rather than to suffer carless days and rationing which are the elements in the plan we are signed up to? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: There has been quite a lot of resource headed into the passenger transport area from this Government over the last couple of years and I thank the member for the work she has done to help that. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the Minister’s Government still committed to article 41 of the Agreement on an International Energy Program which promises national programmes to reduce dependence on imported oil over the longer term; if so what are the next steps in New Zealand’s programme to reduce that dependence given that our oil imports have risen by 53 percent since that agreement was signed? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I am not sure that the member will entirely like the answer but we are helping to drill quite a lot more. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Has the International Energy Agency given any reason for wanting to trigger emergency response actions when oil supply drops by as little as 1 to 2 million barrels per day rather than the 7 million barrels per day in the original agreement? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Not directly to me. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Did the Minister see the statements in  
The Economist 
 on Monday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can pump—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would members please leave the Chamber if they wish to speak. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Did the Minister see the statements in  
The Economist 
 on Monday that OPEC can pump only another 1½ million barrels a day “—before it smacks up against its production ceiling” and further that: “… supply and demand would seem to be heading for a showdown.”; if so does he agree that the International Energy Agency’s hair trigger proposals are driven less by the risk of short-term supply disruptions than by permanent oil depletion? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Not yet.