10. Question No. 10—Energy and ResourcesBARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country) to the Minister of Energy and ResourcesQuestion No. 10—Energy and Resources10. BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country) to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Does she stand by her statement in 2018 We have around 10.5 years of gas … This has been the number that it has been for the last 20 years … Nothing has changed. The member needs to realise that there is 100000 square kilometres off the coast of New Zealand that is available for exploration"?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): Yes. I do note that since 2018 when I made that comment the industry has indicated that it will relinquish 80000 square kilometres of acreage because it is not commercially viable or exploration has come up with dry wells. It is important to note that these exploration permits—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Order! Can I just say that both for Minister Carmel Sepuloni and for this Minister there has been a lot of attempting to shout them down. I don't want to reflect on some of the reasoning behind that but it doesn't look good.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: It is important to note that these exploration permits do not feature in calculations of either our 2P or 2C reserves otherwise known as our forecast reserves. The most current reserves estimates as at January 2020 still have us at 10 years.Barbara Kuriger: Does she view it as a good thing that since she made that statement all of New Zealand's exploration permits outside of Taranaki have been relinquished which has moved New Zealand from 100000 square kilometres to 20000 in less than three years?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Exploration permits are just that: they are exploration permits. Companies take them on and explore them in a speculative manner. They do not know if they are going to find any wells. I point the member to some of the largest areas of acreage that have been relinquished like the Great South Basin which is connected to the fact that dry wells were drilled. There simply was not the gas there. We have to face the reality that in fact there has not been an offshore oil or gas find that is commercially viable in New Zealand since 2000. We have not seen an onshore viable gas find in New Zealand since the early 2000s. The reality that we have to face as a country is that we have to prepare for a future that is beyond fossil fuels.Barbara Kuriger: Why has the Gas Industry Co. begun a project to consider what liquefied natural gas imports are required for dry year electricity generation in New Zealand?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: What the Gas Industry Co. have begun doing at my request is considering what needs to be done as we go through a transition that brings it more in line with the kind of transparency in arrangements that we have within our electricity system. What we know is that we are subject to tightness and contracting that occur in the gas market that we don't see in the same way in the electricity market and that we must make sure that our regulatory processes are right for the transition that we as many other countries must go through.Barbara Kuriger: Has she seen advice from the Gas Industry Co. that New Zealand needs $300 million to $500 million every three to five years to produce existing reserve and what impact does she believe the oil and gas ban had on our ability to attract such investment?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I receive weekly advice from the Gas Industry Co. It is something that I follow very closely and I meet with them regularly. But in terms of the member's statements both today and throughout the week trying to connect the current tightness that we are seeing in the gas market to policy changes that we made to stop further exploration permits they were actually found last year to be false claims by an independent agency—that you cannot connect them. In terms of bringing production online you're looking at at least a lead time of seven years—potentially up to 22 as you saw with the Kupe field.Barbara Kuriger: How does she reconcile her response to questions in the House "Methanex has just signed a contract through to 2029 … the sky isn't falling in." with recent news Methanex will close its Waitara Valley plant after "being unable to secure sufficient gas supplies"?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The situation that we're seeing with Methanex and the Waitara plant is actually the way in which the gas market usually responds to contractual tightness in the market. In fact I look to 2008 to 2013 when that same plant Waitara was downscaled due to gas availability around the Māui downgrade. So this is not an unusual way for the market to respond.Chris Bishop: Point of order Mr Speaker. During the back and forth around the first answer to the primary question by Dr Woods there you made what was clearly a reference to—essentially accused the front bench of the National Party of some sexist behaviour. Yesterday I note Peeni Henare essentially made an animal noise at one of the female members of the National Party and it went completely unpunished so I'm just questioning here really the standards.SPEAKER: I think the noise which I didn't recognise as an animal noise—the out-of-order noise that was made—resulted in a question being gained by the National Party. It was punished but I am going to make it very clear that I will indicate to the House when I am unhappy with the amount of shouting down either of Ministers or of my deputy or assistants. I just make the point that there has been one thing that has been in common with the people who have been shouted down.Hon Simon Bridges: Point of order Mr Speaker. You've now over a number a weeks—and I got kicked out of the House for it—made personal remarks about members on this side of the House. It's simply not right and I ask you as a senior member of this Parliament to stop doing it.SPEAKER: Well I'm going to ask the member to leave the House.Hon Simon Bridges withdrew from the Chamber."