Archive for March, 2010

Environmental Regulation: Bazley To Replace ECAN Councillors In Canterbury water Shake-Up

Top public sector trouble-shooter Dame Margaret Bazley will replace the regional councillors at Environment Canterbury, with a mandate to address urgent water management problems …

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Pollution: Crunch Time For Farmers On Water Quality

The extraordinarily disappointing results of the 2009 report under the Clean Streams Accord are a wake-up call Fonterra heard, but which provoked from the …

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NZ Electricity Sector: New Electricity Board Named

The Electricity Authority Establishment Board, which will set up the Electricity Authority replacing the Electricity Commission, is to be chaired by Dr Brent Layton. …

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NZ Resources: Review Of New Zealand’s Mineral Wealth Finds $194 Billion, Excluding Oil

Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee finally got his Review of Schedule 4 conservation lands report out into the open this week after weeks of Cabinet …

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NZ Petroleum Industry: Shake-Up Coming In Petrol Station Ownership

A shake-up in petrol station ownership in NZ may reverse the dominance in the industry of international oil giants. Wellington based Infratil in conjunction …

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NZ Environment: Call For Environment Ministry To “Lift Its Game”

Environment Minister Nick Smith says the Ministry for the Environment needs to “lift its game” over developing resource management and water policies. The ministry …

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NZ Electricity Reforms: Government Electricity Reforms Cause Battle for Customers. Higher Prices

TrustPower sees another 12 to 18 months of intense retail electricity market competition, created largely because Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee’s reforms are forcing SOEs …

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Exploration: GNS Report On “Promising” Reinga Basin

GNS Science says seismic and satellite data points to the Reinga Basin, off the northwest coast of the North Island, being one of the …

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Exploration: Maari Field A “Success Story”

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee says the Maari offshore oilfield is proving a success story of the petroleum sector, having produced 6.5m barrels …

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NZ Infrastructure: Top Energy And Environment Infrastructure Issues Identified

With all the noise recently about the economics of building new electricity generation capacity, the Govt’s National Infrastructure Plan is notable for saying the …

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NZ Oil Search: US Oil Giant Joins NZ Exploration

US oil explorer Andarko Petroleum is to take a 50% stake in a joint venture with Origin Energy to explore oil and gas prospects …

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Coal Exploration: Prospects For Southland Lignite Development

American regulators have approved an experimental North Dakota coal-drying plant which has imported more than 400 tonnes of NZ lignite to test in the …

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Energy Business: Energy Sector SOE Financial Reporting Needs Drastic Improvement

SOE Minister Simon Power’s requirement for Govt-owned businesses to start reporting their activities in the same manner as companies listed on the NZX is …

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Consents: New Fines For Slow Consenting Councils

Local bodies failing to process resource consent applications on time will be slapped with a 25% penalty, ratcheting up at the rate of 5% …

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Generation: Contact Steams Ahead On Geothermal Developments

Contact Energy’s application for a fast-tracked resource consent for the 250MW Tauhara geothermal power station will be the first to be considered by Environment …

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