Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the APEC Informal Leaders' Retreat in Wellington, New Zealand in 2021
New Zealand’s gas horror story will haunt for years to come
The economic and environmental cost of the seven-year exploration ban will be felt long after its removal
New Zealand’s government has taken various steps to revitalise its ailing oil and gas sector, including by overturning a ban this year on new oil and gas exploration imposed by the previous administration in 2018. That ban and other policies had a profoundly negative impact on both the country’s oil and gas sector and its broader economy and energy security. As the current government works to undo that damage and signal New Zealand is once more “open for business”, the experience serves as a case study for other countries seeking to balance climate action with economic and societal concerns. This report aims to examine this topic in depth, as well as drawing comparisons with the policies of
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
2 March 2026
A potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalating US-Iran conflict risks disrupting Qatari LNG exports that underpin global gas markets, exposing Asia and other markets to sharp price spikes, cargo shortages and renewed reliance on dirtier fuels
