Test drilling in Northland, New Zealand

Planned test drilling for oil in Northland, New Zealand

The following is information put together for a protest against test drilling by Norwegian oil company, Statoil in Northland on 18 October:

• Norwegian oil company Statoil has a permit to explore for oil off the Hokianga west coast. They plan to start testing in December this year.
• Seismic testing ends sonic booms several kilometers down into the sea floor. The echos back are logged to form a map
• The booms are 13 times louder than a jumbo jet starting up. The sound carries for 100's of kilometres under water. Hey send down a boom every 10 seconds for 3 months
• The booms are known to blow out the balancing mechanisms  in the head of fish (especially snapper), whales and dolphins. The fish can no longer balance or steer, and die.

If the test results showed likely oil deposits the oil company begins test drilling. This would happen in water up to 2500 m deep This is too deep to take effective action were there a mishap on the ocean floor. NZ is in a shaky part of the world. Can we guarantee there will be no earthquake at the drill site for the next 500? years?

If there was a spill the prevailing westerly winds would drive the escaped dirty oil onto our coast and into our harbours.

NZ has no adequate response system. The chemical they sprayed to disperse the oil in the Bay of Plenty is toxic. It causes fish death and deformities.

Statoil representative Per Haremo told a hui in Kaitaia there would be no jobs for Northlanders, The ships work out from New Plymouth.

Climate change is drowning our Pacific neighbours’ islands already. Burning oil and coal causes climate change.

The ONLY way to stop this going ahead is numbers of people pulling together. Big protests are the only way this has been stopped elsewhere in the world. Whanau a Apanui were successful

#STOPSTATOIL Go to Facebook page HERE

Statoil's drilling plans strongly opposed

Statoil vice president of exploration Pal Haremo says he has never before experienced disruption such as that displayed at a Kaitaia workshop last week

PROPOSED SITE: The proposed drilling location in Northland.

Northern News,

20 August, 2014

"I was taken by surprise. My aim was to listen and to inform," Haremo said.

Kaumatua attending voiced "one hundred per cent opposition to seismic testing and deep sea oil drilling", and expressed their anger at Statoil continuing with its plans.

Tables at which company representatives sat were upturned by 28th Maori Battalion survivor Selwyn Clarke. This ended the official meeting, organised by Te Runanga o Te Rarawa.

Statoil has been asked to cancel its seismic testing programme planned for this summer to protect marine life in the Te Reinga Basin.

It's feared that seismic testing planned for December will harm dolphins, whales, giant squid and fish.

Statoil, 67 per cent owned by the Norwegian Government, has a 15 year exploration permit.

In an interview with the Northern News, Haremo says his company is taking a long term approach and wants to talk to all stakeholders.

This was his fourth visit to the Far North.

"We really care about social responsibility. If we see that the impact of our operation is negative, we may withdraw," he said.

The exploration process has already started, with desktop studies and mapping of the sea bottom underway. This will be followed with core analysis in about a year and collection of 2D seismic data this summer.

He said the company is aware that the region is environmentally sensitive.

"Science is not always precise but in the 40 years Statoil has been operating seismic surveys, studies carried out by independent scientists have not recorded any damage to marine mammals."

He said no decision will be made to develop the field until about 2020 and if Statoil decides not to drill any wells off the coast of Northland, the area will be relinquished back to the Crown.

"We are investing and taking the risks, then there will come a time when we have a row of decision points to make."

Asked how the Far North might benefit from a deep sea oil development, Haremo said a huge oil discovery would translate into high value for New Zealand, in the form of taxes, but he could not say how much of it would come to the Far North.

"It will be up to the New Zealand government how to allocate that. There will be some jobs for people here - with contractors, in transport and catering for example."

Opposition to Statoil carrying out their deep sea oil drilling plans will be very expensive for the company, Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Mike Smith said.

Statoil is a client of TGS, a provider of geoscience data, that has already started the regulatory approval process to undertake a two-dimensional marine seismic survey within the Reinga, Northland and Taranaki Basins.

The proposed survey aims to map the geological structure under the seabed and to identify any areas worth further investigation.

The survey will be carried out under ‘permitted activity regulations' and will use survey techniques practiced internationally.

Statoil is also a lease holder in Canada, producing oil from the controversial Alberta tar sands.

Groups within Norway and first nation representatives in Canada have repeatedly urged Statoil to pull out of Alberta's oil sands.

Indigenous communities, who say they are forced to endure degraded air and water quality, are currently fighting multiple treaty rights battles

Here is some material put out on the issue.