Oil and Gas

Exploration on the

East Coast

OUTLINE- IN OUR BACKYARD

- HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

- WHO IS PETROBRAS?

- WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD

- WHAT COULD HAPPEN

- WHANGAPARAOA HUI

- WHAT CAN WE DO

- SUMMING UP

IN OUR TERRITORY

• Brazillian company Petrobras have been granted 12,330 sq km and awarded a five-year petroleum and gas exploration permit by NZ government• The permit area starts at 4 km off the east coast up to 110 km• There are 3 stages to this permit • Stage One – Gathering 2D seismic data • Stage Two – Gathering 3D seismic data• Stage Three – If proven viable Petrobras will drill an exploratory well

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

• Crown stole rights to petroleum, gold, silver, uranium under the Crown Mineral Act 1991• These are now called ‘nationalised minerals’ Which mean the Crown can do with them what it wants• The Crown then provides permits to people to explore or extract these minerals• 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Actgave the govt ownership of foreshore/seabed. Over 40,000 protest in Wellington• Govt. pro-development of petroleum resources and seeks to open more offshore mining in NZ – Canterbury, Wellington, Northland, Taranaki, East Coast. ‘Pacific Norway’• On 1 June 2010, NZ Govt awards the permit to Petrobras• 14 June Foreshore and Seabed Act repealed• The repeal of the FaSA has no retrospective powers. It doesn’t affect the Petrobras permit

WHO IS PETROBRAS • Petrobras is the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world• Financially backed by the Brazillian Govt., US Administration and other key financial supporters (Billionaire George Soros) –over 3 billion $$$• Between 1975 – 2001, over 76 million litres of oil has been spilled by Petrobras • 141 people have been killed• P-36 oil platform, the world’s largest floating production platform owned by Petrobras, sank in March 2001. Two explosions on the platform killed 11 employees, and after several days it sank, leaking more than a million gallon of oil. • According to the company’s own data, it was involved in 95 separate incidents between January 2000 and March 2001•This is the company that is drilling for oil and gas in our waters!

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD

• Massive oil and gas spill from BP in Mexico. The spill is still continuing - the capping has not completely stopped the oil and gas flow. BP says 15,000 barrels a day are now going up the riser cap. But reports say, that still leaves up to 25,000 to 100,000 barrels a day is spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. • Obama suspends offshore drilling in the USA until further notice as its too dangerous YET the Obama administration and other financial supporters invests over 3 billion in Petrobras to do offshore drilling elsewhere in the world. They financially backed Petrobras to tender for the Raukumara Basin license• It risks our clean green reputation and, if something does go wrong, the cost to fisheries, coastline, birdlife and other ecology and economy could easily run into tens and tens of billions of dollars and ruin OUR coast• Oil and gas drilling is highly dangerous and a high risk to our environment• Reports of BP experts say they are excited (!) by all that they are learning and that WHEN (not if) the next spill happens they will be able to respond and contain it better• Oil and gas drilling is environmentally unsustainable - in the era of climate change New Zealand should be investing in clean technologies.• Norway bans all offshore drilling within its territorial waters for environmental reasons

WHAT COULD HAPPEN?

• If petroleum and/or gas is found, Petrobras will drill an exploratory well (Stage three) – this will be done in the term of five years. If the field proves commercially viable then they could sink several wells. • At any of these three stages if it is not viable, Petrobras has the option to pull out of the license.•Oil or gas will be pumped ashore through pipes built along the seafloor to an onshore refinery or into a tanker on the sea that partially refines oil, tankers sail directly to their market.• Petrobras is also targeting natural gas (methane hydrate) and is looking for ‘finds’ in the Pacific region. Methane is one of the three most potent gases that some scientists say are causing the Earth to warm up at an accelerated and unnatural rate. • The Drilling Process: The drill goes through the ocean floor – all that sediment, dust and ‘waste’ is pumped out through another pipeline and back into the sea. If you can imagine cement dust mixed with water that is what this waste would look like. This would choke and eventually kill a lot of our kaimoana.• In the last 30 years there have been 108 earthquakes above the 5 magnitude scale in the Raukumara Basin• Since 1989 there have been six earthquakes above the 6 magnitude scale in the Raukumara Basin• A magnitude 5 earthquake releases as much energy as the Hiroshima atomic bomb — the equivalent of 15 kilotons of TNT. A magnitude 6 is equivalent to 30 Hiroshima bombs.

WHAT ELSE COULD HAPPEN

WHAT ELSE COULD HAPPEN

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Information is

Empowerment

What we can do

• Facebook group page: stop the drilling on our east coast http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=130406690316831&v=info

• or Goto: www.facebook.com/stopthedrilling then facebook search ‘stop the drilling on our east coast’• currently after being online for 10 days and have 1900 members

• Kaupapa: - Join up and tell as many people as we can what is happening here with factual information

- Research factual information- Get as much support and numbers as possible- this is an issue for all of Aotearoa and a global issue- GET READY! We want tens of thousands of people (millions!)

KIA KAHA- Long campaign

- billions of dollars are involved- fourth largest oil and gas company

- opposing a govt that wants to open mining in NZ- Advocate for alternative cleaner fuels

Other things we can do

• Further setting up Information networks- website- researching information , connecting with

‘experts’, other organisations and - letters to ministers, petition, letters to

press, notices in school panui, clinic panui etc

- creating watchdog group– info online, press, news, councils and resource consents Creative ideas

- music - Other environmental protection actions?? - Other events – see facebook

To sum up…

• Tell whanau, hapu, iwi, friends etc about what’s happening, write letters, sign petitions.. etc• Ask people to join the facebook group so that we can keep everyone up to date• Read and research what’s going on• Get as much support as possible • Get ready

Environmental Protection

We are about wanting to protect our environment, protecting our taonga,

our precious resources

We are wanting to do what is right

We want to leave a healthy environment and a home

to come back to – a legacy for generations to

come

Mana AtuaMana Moana

Mana WhenuaMana Tangata