Govt set to announce natural gas import decision

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will reveal details of the Government’s policy to import liquefied natural gas at his post-Cabinet press conference on Monday afternoon, Newsroom understands.
The final details of the policy are still being worked through by ministers in the weekly Cabinet meeting. However, Energy Minister Simeon Brown told Q+A on Sunday the Government was looking to reduce barriers to private import of LNG rather than get involved itself.
He said LNG could be imported to the former Marsden Point oil refinery, at the Port of Taranaki or at an offshore rig. The infrastructure to do so would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Brown added – well above the $80m to $180m estimate produced by consultancy Enerlytica two weeks ago.
Brown specifically named consents as the greatest obstacle to building an LNG import facility, raising speculation that the Government will look to fast-track LNG-related consents.
The energy industry hopes the import of LNG will help as domestic supply of gas dwindles.
It is unclear whether calls for a restructuring of the wholesale power market will be met with Government action. On Sunday, Brown said the Government’s sole focus was on increasing supply of electricity, not on the market.
“There’s a number of things the Government is considering at the moment around what could be done to encourage more generation. But that’s the key, we want a more competitive market,” he said.