The Government will remove a key barrier to creating underground gas storage by ending the requirement for developers to pay royalties on gas that is unlikely to be extracted or sold, Resources Minister Shane Jones says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross the world, underground gas storage is a proven way of improving flexibility and resilience in energy systems. There are already proposals being explored that could significantly expand New Zealand\u2019s storage capacity, and we want to ensure unnecessary regulatory barriers are not standing in the way of those investments,\u201d Mr Jones says.<\/p>\n
\u201cGas production is relatively steady throughout the year but demand for electricity generation can surge during winter peaks and dry years. Gas storage helps bridge that gap by ensuring supply is available when it is needed most.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt present, developers can be required to pay royalties on \u2018cushion gas\u2019 that cannot be extracted or sold because it is needed to maintain operational pressure within a storage reservoir.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cushion gas is the volume of gas needed to maintain pressure within a storage reservoir so gas can be injected, managed and withdrawn effectively. It is operational gas, not gas that is intended to be sold.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy removing the requirement to pay royalties on gas that is unlikely to be produced, we are making it easier to invest in underground gas storage thereby strengthening New Zealand\u2019s energy security,\u201d Mr Jones says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis change will require an independent expert to determine the proportion of a storage facility\u2019s original gas that qualifies as cushion gas and is therefore not subject to royalties. Any gas above that amount will remain subject to existing royalty requirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealand\u2019s energy security relies on reliable access to the fuels needed to keep the lights on, power industry and support economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Jones says that while Methanex\u2019s decision to idle its operations next year frees up gas for other users and improves the short-term outlook for the market, it does not remove the need to strengthen New Zealand\u2019s longer-term energy security.<\/p>\n
\u201cGas will continue to play an important role in supporting electricity generation and industry for many years to come. We need practical measures that improve the flexibility and resilience of our energy system.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealand cannot afford a future where factories close, industries shut down and electricity prices spike because we failed to prepare. This decision removes a barrier to investment and helps ensure we have the energy security our economy depends on,\u201d Mr Jones says.<\/p>\n
Future reviews of the petroleum regulatory framework will consider how effectively the new measure is helping investment in underground gas storage and strengthening New Zealand\u2019s energy security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Government will remove a key barrier to creating un […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10164628679967220_110360201440802":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4625,"url":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?p=4625","url_meta":{"origin":12965,"position":0},"title":"\u653f\u5e9c\u63a8\u51fa\u201c\u71c3\u6c14\u8f6c\u578b\u8d37\u6b3e\u62c5\u4fdd\u8ba1\u5212\u201d","author":"\u7f16\u8f91\u90e8","date":"26\/05\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u8d22\u653f\u90e8\u957f Nicola Willis\u3001\u80fd\u6e90\u90e8\u957f Simeon Brown \u53ca\u526f\u80fd\u6e90\u90e8\u957f Sha\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u5728\u201c\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u534e\u4eba\u6bcf\u65e5\u8d44\u8baf\u7f51\u201d\u4e2d","block_context":{"text":"\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u534e\u4eba\u6bcf\u65e5\u8d44\u8baf\u7f51","link":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?cat=26"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Willis_0-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10349,"url":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?p=10349","url_meta":{"origin":12965,"position":1},"title":"\u666e\u5361\u6cb9\u6c14\u7530\u91c7\u77ff\u8bb8\u53ef\u83b7\u6279","author":"\u7f16\u8f91\u90e8","date":"14\/08\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u8d44\u6e90\u90e8\u957f\u6c99\u6069\u00b7\u743c\u65af\u8868\u793a\uff0c\u4e00\u9879\u65b0\u7684\u77f3\u6cb9\u5f00\u91c7\u8bb8\u53ef\u5c06\u5728\u672a\u676510\u5e74\u4e3a\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u56fd\u5185\u5e02\u573a\u589e\u52a0\u5929\u7136\u6c14\u4f9b\u5e94\uff0c\u540c\u65f6\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u5728\u201c\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u534e\u4eba\u6bcf\u65e5\u8d44\u8baf\u7f51\u201d\u4e2d","block_context":{"text":"\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u534e\u4eba\u6bcf\u65e5\u8d44\u8baf\u7f51","link":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?cat=26"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SNyaVCNZZf-e1777865245464.jpg?fit=245%2C217&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10132,"url":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?p=10132","url_meta":{"origin":12965,"position":2},"title":"RIF funding boosts Chatham Islands connections","author":"\u7f16\u8f91\u90e8","date":"12\/08\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Chatham Islands\u2019 connections are being strengthene\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u7c7b\u4f3c\u6587\u7ae0","block_context":{"text":"\u7c7b\u4f3c\u6587\u7ae0","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SNyaVCNZZf-e1777865245464.jpg?fit=245%2C217&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5205,"url":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?p=5205","url_meta":{"origin":12965,"position":3},"title":"Government welcomes new diesel storage","author":"\u7f16\u8f91\u90e8","date":"09\/06\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"News that work to recommission an additional 93 mi\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u7c7b\u4f3c\u6587\u7ae0","block_context":{"text":"\u7c7b\u4f3c\u6587\u7ae0","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SNyaVCNZZf-e1777865245464.jpg?fit=245%2C217&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5240,"url":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?p=5240","url_meta":{"origin":12965,"position":4},"title":"Securing Affordable Energy: LNG to keep the lights on and protect jobs","author":"","date":"09\/06\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"New Zealand households and businesses are a step c\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u7c7b\u4f3c\u6587\u7ae0","block_context":{"text":"\u7c7b\u4f3c\u6587\u7ae0","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SNyaVCNZZf-e1777865245464.jpg?fit=245%2C217&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7150,"url":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?p=7150","url_meta":{"origin":12965,"position":5},"title":"\u65b0\u4f01\u4e1a\u62df\u6269\u5927\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u6cb9\u6c14\u52d8\u63a2\u5e03\u5c40 \u5317\u5854\u62c9\u7eb3\u57fa\u6d77\u57df\u518d\u8fce\u52d8\u63a2\u7533\u8bf7","author":"\u7f16\u8f91\u90e8","date":"14\/07\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u7f16\u8f91\u90e8\uff5c\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u534e\u4eba\u6bcf\u65e5\u8d44\u8baf\u7f51 \u65b0\u897f\u5170\u8d44\u6e90\u90e8\u957fShane Jones\u8868\u793a\uff0c\u653f\u5e9c\u6b22\u8fce\u66f4\u591a\u4f01\u4e1a\u6295\u8d44\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u77f3\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u5728\u201c\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u534e\u4eba\u6bcf\u65e5\u8d44\u8baf\u7f51\u201d\u4e2d","block_context":{"text":"\u65b0\u897f\u5170\u534e\u4eba\u6bcf\u65e5\u8d44\u8baf\u7f51","link":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/?cat=26"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SNyaVCNZZf-e1777865245464.jpg?fit=245%2C217&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzchinesedailynews.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}