Apache/TAG Permits

What’s happened?

New onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration permits have recently been awarded to several mining companies by the New Zealand government. Test drilling has begun in some areas and more are due to start soon.

These permits cover an area 42 times greater than that which is currently being mined, across most of New Zealand including the East Coast and Hawkes Bay.

The companies have government support to explore and mine in areas that will risk destroying wildlife habitat and nature reserves, pollute oceans, soils and groundwater and produce new fossil fuel to add to the global problem of climate change. We are supposed to be turning away from fossil fuels not increasing our contribution to CO2 emissions.

What is the legal context?

The Crown intended the Petroleum Act of 1937 to extinguish all private landowners’ pre-existing interests in oil and gas and vested ownership in the Crown, this claim of Crown ownership with reaffirmed in the Crown Minerals Act of 1991 which also established a petroleum permitting and exploration regime that has little regard for Māori interests and environmental protection. These laws have been challenged by Māori through claims to the Waitangi Tribunal.

Between 2006 and 2009 the government sold exploration rights via permits across 1.7 million acres in three East Coast blocks. The blocks cover the tribal areas of at least nine iwi, part of the Conservation estate and thousands of private properties.

Which companies are involved?

North American companies TAG Oil and Apache Corporation are exploring for and hope to extract oil and gas on the East Coast and southern Hawkes Bay. Current exploration activity is focused on land near Porangahau, Whatatutu and Te Puia Springs.

TAG Oil Ltd. is a Canadian production and exploration company with operations focused exclusively in New Zealand. TAG has been involved in fracking activities in Taranaki over the past five years.  Houston-based Apache Corporation is among US companies that have pioneered unconventional drilling techniques including the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, tapping into shale formations in Texas, Canada and Argentina in recent years.

In June 2011 Apache Corp. pulled out of a similar deal in the Elgin area of New Brunswick, Canada. Apache had partnered with Corridor Resources Ltd. a smaller company that held the permits. Corridor is now likely to partner with Southwestern Energy, the company that is facing court action from a group of families in Arkansas relating to their drinking water contamination from fracking.

Apache has activities in Argentina that have recently been targeted by indigenous communities. Mapuche indians have occupied a natural gas plant to protest the corporation extracting oil and gas from their traditional lands.

What’s the plan?

Apache Corp. has agreed to conduct a multi-phased exploration, appraisal and potential extraction program within TAG’s East Coast Basin exploration permits PEP 38348, PEP 38349 and PEP 50940. The Permits comprise in excess of one million acres along the East Coast. TAG currently holds a 100% working interest in the properties.

Apache Corp. will be the operator for all activities excluding the initial four vertical wells of the work program that TAG will operate with Apache’s assistance. Apache will spend up to $100 million upon completion of Phase 3 to earn a 50% interest in the Permits.

Each phase of operations will include an aggressive program of both 2D / 3D seismic and drilling. The planned exploration work program will be conducted 2011-2015.

In early 2012, Apache used Taranaki-based company BTW to initiate seismic testing – at Waitangi Hill near Whatatutu this involves extracting 800,000-1,000,000 litres of fresh water for 800 shallow drill holes, 800 explosions and the discharge of drilling fluid to the surrounding land.

What consultation has there been with locals?

TAG Oil and Apache Corp. have said they plan to have “many, many meetings” with locals before starting any drilling activities. While these meetings are starting to happen, so has their exploration activity at Porangahau and Whatatutu before the communities have had a chance to fully consider the situation.

There appears to have been no government consultation with affected communities in the past 20 years. A series of seven hui were held around the country in 1992 to identify areas of significance to iwi that should be identified in the Minerals Programme as excluded areas from exploration.

A recent Waitangi Tribunal report found that most Māori communities and organisations have very little capacity to engage adequately in the decision-making process relating to mining activities in New Zealand.

Gisborne District Council staff have been liaising with Ngāariki Kaiputahi – a meeting at Whatatutu was held in late 2011, this is a video of that hui:

This video is from the first public meeting Apache had with affected residents at Mangatu Marae in late 2011:

Part 1:

Part 2:

What’s wrong with exploration and extraction?

The potential oil and gas identified in the permit areas would likely use ‘fracking’ extraction techniques. Fracking creates major environmental problems and has recently been banned in a number of countries including South Africa and France, and a number of jurisdictions in the USA. Every fracked well requires millions of litres of fresh water that is mixed with a deadly cocktail of chemicals pumped deep into the earth. In many cases overseas, the wells have leaked toxins into underground water aquifers and resulted in contaminated drinking water.

The waste produced by this process must be stored forever in giant toxic ponds or discharged on to farm land and/or back into the drill holes. In Taranaki the discharge to land is on paddocks grazed by stock and official records have breached consented limits of barium, chlorine and nitrogen. 

Climate Change

The bigger issue relates to the contribution of fossil fuels to climate change caused by human activity.

Oil and gas are major greenhouse gas emitting fuels. Shale oil and gas extraction uses a huge amount of energy to get it out which makes its carbon footprint larger than conventional crude.

The effects of climate change are predicted to range from increased extreme weather events, unpredictable seasons and crop failure to increased health problems and diseases.

On-flow effects of climate change include increased numbers of environmental refugees, sea- level rise, groundwater pollution, increased coastal erosion, increased extinctions (currently the worst in geological his- tory already), and further economic and political injustice.

We must reduce our energy use and switch to safe, renewable energies to protect the wellbeing of all who inhabit this planet, now and in the future.

Drill site exploration damage

Based on experiences in Taranaki and overseas, damage from exploration and extraction includes bush clearance, earthworks, roading and infrastructure for drill sites, groundwater  contamination  from  extraction  processes such as hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), soil pollution from contaminated drilling waste, increased erosion from stream diversion and earthworks, wāhi tapu damage and destruction, air pollution, noise pollution, disruption of views, increased roading and traffic leading to more accidents and land confiscations, site access restrictions leading to increased corporate policing and loss of areas used to gather kaimoana and for recreation. Profits will remain with the corporations while communities bear the full cost of the damage.

Who is not happy with this situation?

Concerned citizens are standing up to this activity all over New Zealand and across the world. A growing number of East Coast residents, farmers, land owners, iwi and hapū have serious concerns about the plans to explore and extract oil and gas using fracking methods on the East Coast.

Australian farmers have led a well organised ‘Lock the Gate’ campaign: www.lockthegate.org.au

What can we do?

Use  government  and  legislation:

• Ask councillors to ensure District Plan rules and regulations protect the environment from fracking-related activities.
• Lobby MPs to revoke the permits repeal the Crown Minerals Act.
• Fight Resource Consents in the Environment Court.
• Push the Waitangi Tribunal WAI796 Petroleum Report recommendations.
• Identify and protect wāhi tapu and historic places through the Crown Minerals programme and district plans.

Community-led direct action:

• Sign up to our mailing list at: www.nodrilling.org.nz
• Distribute accurate information and organise resistance in your community
• Educate through community meetings, online, with stickers, t- shirts and billboards
• Help build the East Coast network
• Monitor the companies and council decisions
• Network with other anti-drilling groups around the country and overseas
• Declare your community a drill-free zone
• Occupy drill-sites and road access
• Convince land owners not to grant access to the exploration companies
• Do whatever you can!

Where can I get more information?

Website: www.cleancountry.org.nz

Facebook:   East Coast vs. Apache Corp.

                   Stop the drilling on our East Coast

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