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Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou endorses Te Ikaroa’s petition calling on the Norwegian Government to reconsider its policy on deep water prospecting for oil and gas.
Norwegian state-owned company Statoil has been granted a joint permit with US company Chevron by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to survey an area of 64,000 square kilometers extending offshore from Napier to Kaikoura.
TRONPnui Chairman, Selwyn Parata says Ngati Porou shares the aspirations of the 2015 Paris Agreement to commit to a decrease in global warming and a reduction in the use of fossil fuels.
A Ngāti Porou, environmental resource advocate, Tina Ngata, says she believes this is one of 15 new fossil fuel prospecting permits awarded by MBIE since 2014 including several which are likely to involve future surveying of the Pegasus and East Coast Basins.
This month, the seismic survey company, Schlumberger has its largest vessel, Amazon Warrior, anchored off the East Coast in reparation for a four-month period of sonic testing.
Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou Chief Executive, Herewini Te Koha, says that they understand that a vessel such as the Amazon Warrior must have two independent marine mammal observers and two passive acoustic monitors on board at all times.
However, he said the sound waves created by the ship’s onboard sonic boom travel kilometres into the seafloor and its substrata.
“Not enough is known of the effects of seismic testing on the spawning cycle of marine life or long term impact of prospecting methods on our customary or commercial fisheries.”
Last year, TRONPnui opposed the Government’s oil and gas exploration block offer for the East Coast alongside the Gisborne District Council and Nga Hapu o Ngati Porou.
