Norman Russel William: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Norman Russel William: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:663;Page:11430] 
3. 
Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy and Resources 
: Will he before issuing any permits for deep-water oil drilling in the Great South Basin ensure that all drilling companies have the ability to control any leaks that develop? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources) 
: 
 The member is clearly concerned about an incident similar to the one in the Gulf of Mexico occurring in New Zealand waters. I say to him that the New Zealand Government is equally concerned as are I believe all oil companies throughout the world. I firstly indicate that we have officials from the Maritime Safety Authority in the United States at the moment working alongside the Americans and we are also observing the work that has been done to try to rectify the problem there and indeed to find out exactly what the problem was in the first place. More important as part of our petroleum action plan we have required a body of work to be done on the environmental protection that would be required in our exclusive economic zone. Our expectation is that that work will be completed in time for it to be included in the legislation. Given that we do not have any prospect of deep-water drilling in New Zealand for at least the next 18 months we expect those new requirements to be in the new law and that companies will comply with them. But at the moment it is very much a case of finding out exactly what happened because it appears that no one quite knows and that is not a satisfactory situation. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: In light of that answer will he give an assurance to this House that no drilling will proceed in deep water in the Great South Basin until the oil companies can demonstrate that they have the ability to plug a leak like the one we have seen in the Gulf of Mexico? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: The first point is that no drilling is planned for any deep-water area—defined in the US as being below 300 metres—in New Zealand certainly in the next 18 months and perhaps up to 2 years. I am of the strong view that any of the oil companies that might be interested in pursuing their options will themselves for the sake of their own liability want to make sure that they are as safe as they possibly can. If we couple that with the environmental protections we will put in the exclusive economic zone legislation I think the assurance can be given that the Government will do all it can to ensure that there is a stronger safety regime in place for people drilling in deep water in New Zealand. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: Although I accept the assurance that the Government will do all it can does he accept that New Zealanders do not want drilling to go ahead in deep water until the oil companies have actually proven that they have the ability to plug a leak like that one because so far they have not proven they have the ability to stop the leak? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: It is fair to say that there is one company with a problem. It is now emerging that it has had quite a significant number of problems over a long period of time and perhaps the monitoring did not show that up quickly enough. That makes me think that we need to have those strong regimes. But I appreciate that New Zealanders will want to be comforted by the fact that the very best technology will be applied to any drilling operations in deep-water New Zealand. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: Although I accept that it will be the very best technology does the Minister not accept that the very best technology may not be enough and that given the ecological sensitivity of the Great South Basin we should not allow deep-water drilling until the oil companies have demonstrated that they actually have the ability to plug one of those holes? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: As I said at the outset there is no plan to drill in that part of New Zealand—or any other deep-water part of New Zealand—for at least 18 months or perhaps up to 2 years. I would be very very surprised if any oil company went ahead without having the capacity to do exactly as the member suggests.