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
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
