John MacDonald: More gas-bagging over the gas ban

Author: John MacDonald,
Publish Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2026, 12:26pm

Follow the podcast on

Sometimes it seems that Labour’s decision to ban exploration for fossil fuels gets blamed for nearly every problem we’re dealing with in New Zealand.

And today is no different. With Labour copping the blame for the closure of the big Methanex manufacturing plant, in Taranaki.

The company has announced that it’s closing the methanol plant, which uses as much as 40 percent of the natural gas produced in New Zealand, because of what it describes as no clear path to new gas supplies.

It will stop production at the end of February. Putting about 200 jobs on the line. Which has Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis pointing the finger at Labour.

Energy Minister Simeon Brown is piling-in too.

He says "The reason why we're in this position is because Labour decided to ban oil and gas exploration, crashed a sector, thousands of jobs in our regions lost, particularly in Taranaki, and now even more being lost."

Which is the predictable response, I suppose. But he’s wrong. So is Nicola Willis.

And here’s why. The last really significant natural gas discovery in New Zealand was the Pohokura field in 2000, off the Taranaki coast. It was discovered in 2000 and production started in 2006.

Since then, there’s been nothing comparable to that. And certainly nothing comparable to the Maui gas field, which was discovered off the coast of Taranaki in 1969.

I’ve seen it described as enormous, by international standards. But there hasn’t been a second Maui. Which, by the way, is due to end production at the end of this year.

But back to this nonsense that the Methanex plant is closing because of Labour’s gas ban.

Rich Sumner is President and CEO of Methanex Corporation. He says: “Our New Zealand production facilities have operated for more than four decades and our people have made significant contributions to the company’s global operations and the New Zealand energy sector. However, we have also been preparing for the eventuality of this day given the declining gas availability in the country.”

Key words there: “declining availability”.

And the reason for that “declining availability” isn’t because of the gas ban. The declining availability is because we spent 18 years looking and didn‘t find anything.

Eighteen years between the last significant discovery and the start of Labour’s exploration ban. You would think, wouldn’t you, that 18 years would be long enough to discover something worthwhile.

But we didn’t. And that’s why Methanex is shutting-up shop here.

LISTEN ABOVE