Conservationists and recreational users are staking out the Hurunui River irrigation scheme as a battleground on which the future of the Govt’s collaborative approach to freshwater management either succeeds or fails. There was little surprise when legislation passed under Parliamentary urgency before Easter, sacked the Environment Canterbury regional councillors. But environmental, conservation and recreational groups […]

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Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee says he would be “a bit disappointed” if NZX and the power company owners of the EnergyHedge trading platform for electricity derivatives can’t make it work. However, the more important goal is “we get a hedge market and given it’s all virtually traded … possibly it’s irrelevant, but it would, I […]

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You mightn’t think, looking at the most recent TVNZ polling the Govt has taken any knocks from the mining debate. But unpublished polling seen by NZ Energy and Environment Business Week suggests the latest confirmation of National’s solid lead would look different if the analysis of the “don’t knows” were included, instead of the raw […]

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What goes around comes around, and last week it was approval from the Environmental Risk Management Authority for trials which will allow genetic modification of cows, goats, sheep, and mice. Ten years ago or less, this would have been a defining moment for the anti-GM lobby. In 2010, however, it has attracted almost as muted […]

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Oil and gas exploration is at levels not seen since the 1980s, with around 40 exploration wells to be drilled next summer. Currently, in some of the deepest water drilled off Taranaki, a joint venture of Australian, Austrian and NZ companies hopes for results from the Hoki-1 wildcat well within a fortnight. Drilling operations at […]

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The Finance and Expenditure Select Committee isn’t due to report back to Parliament on the Electricity Industry Bill until 15 June, but the outline of likely tweaks is clear from a trawl through the submissions. Here’s our pick for what will change:
• The Committee will agree with MightyRiverPower that the Technical Advisory Group got it […]

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Efforts by local sharemarket operator, NZX, to establish electricity derivatives trading are foundering on its failure so far to find the backing of a global general clearing participant to stand behind trading on its proposed new derivatives market platform. This is apparently leading to a hold-up in its plans to launch dairy derivatives in June […]

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Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee will be extending his international contacts in the energy sector at the 12th International Energy Forum in Mexico. Associated with Forum, the International Energy Business Forum brings together Ministers and chief executives of leading energy companies for a dialogue on global energy security.
Before he left for Mexico last Saturday, […]

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NZ Refining Co, CEO Ken Rivers says in his 35 years in the oil industry he has not experienced such testing times for the refining sector as in the past 12 months. “In addition to the financial challenges of 2009, we had the prospect of major shareholder and customer changes, two tsunamis, a global flu […]

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