What use is oil extraction here?

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, March 20th, 2014 - 26 comments
Categories: Economy, energy, national, same old national - Tags: , ,

One of the more irritating traits of National politicians is their bone-headed and short-term obsession about being rentiers selling raw and lightly processed raw materials offshore. Sure it is great in the short-term for the seller of the rights to those raw materials, but it does little to nothing for the other 4+ million people in this country. In the fullness of time, the resource that is being extracted will run out. The extracting companies will be folded up and somehow the bill for the inevitable cleanup winds up on everyone else.

Nowhere in the NZ economy is this more clearly expressed over time than in the oil extraction

Matthew Hooton was peddling some of his should be patented line of bullshit earlier in the week about oil and gas. I got irritated enough to divert from my work to dig out some basic charts to display what has been happening at the output stage. But I noticed something .

Oil is peanuts. All recent fields have been micro fields that get exhausted almost as soon as they are pumped.
http://www.med.govt.nz/sectors-industries/energy/energy-modelling/data/oil

There are a number of things that are interesting about this chart if you look closely at it.

You see that red line, that is the export of oil expressed in energy. Essentially we export virtually all of it. There is a reason for that. The type of oil that we get in NZ isn’t easy to use in our sole oil refinery in Whangarei. That is designed to operate on a different type of crude to that commonly found sloshing in the bottom of gas fields (which is where most of our oil comes from). Even the sole major oil only field – Tui, almost certainly started as a gas field that lost its gas.

But the spin you get from the energy industry (and eventually out through the mouth of Mr Hooton) is quite different. Here is a good example from the wikipedia page on oil and gas in NZ.

In 2008, New Zealand’s self-sufficiency in oil (production divided by consumption) was 47%, i.e. the country imports over half its petroleum product needs (though actual imports are higher, as some of the local product is also exported).[1] In the March 2010 quarter, 28.7 petajoules of crude were produced in New Zealand, 78 pj of petroleum products imported (most of it crude), and 61.6 pj consumed. The difference is exported or used for international travel (aviation fuel and similar).[2]

Sounds great eh? 47% self-sufficiency! We only import just over half of our petroleum product. Yeah right! This paragraph appears to be a bit of deliberate spin that you can see repeated amongst almost all of National’s talking heads whenever they start waffling about the benefits of the oil exploration for NZ.

The reality is that we export virtually all of our oil production. As far as I can tell all of it gets exported completely unprocessed.

We import virtually all of our oil needs and some of it gets processed it here. A quick summary from the Marsden Oil Refinery site (my bold).

We supply:

  • all of the country’s jet fuel
  • nearly 80% of diesel
  • around half of all petrol
  • between 75 and 85% of bitumen for roading
  • all fuel oil for ships
  • sulphur for farm fertiliser
  • and we even put the fizz in fizzy drinks!

Why is this interesting? Because NZ crude is mostly a gas condensate, it is very high in light fractions of hydrocarbons. The exact type that is required for making petrol. Which is why it commands a high premium offshore.

It can be used in the Marsden refinery, because that was adapted to be able to use it in the late 1970’s and early 80s.

But rather than adding value to it here using local workers and capital and actually using it here to provide the other half of our own petroleum needs, instead it gets exported. Sure the government gets a minor cut. But most of the value is simply drained from the country.

Quite simply an alternate policy of just leaving the oil in the ground carries better value for NZ. Who apart from a few nutters really expects the long term future prices of the increasingly scarce raw material to go down? The uses for complex hydrocarbons range from plastics to lubricants.  Simply exporting it to be burnt defies any kind of economic logic about how to use a natural resource effectively.

Classic rentiers logic exporting unprocessed raw materials rather than providing added value. It is also so characteristic of the National rentier party that this is what happens. Too lazy to put in the capital and work required to provide more value, they prefer to just dump it for cash.

You can see it in the way that our dairy products are increasingly being  processed ever lighter and exported by the the cronies of National in a essentially raw form of milk powder. Our wood increasingly exported as raw logs.

Which of course completely explains their reaction to Labour’s policy on increasing the value add on our forestry.

26 comments on “What use is oil extraction here? ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Ad 1
    20 March 2014 at 9:28 am

    Your general point about unprocessed raw product being exported is well taken:
    Apples.
    Logs.
    Milk powder.
    Wool.
    Minced beef.
    Oil.
    Coal.
    Basic international student courses.
    Fish.
    Gold.
    Leather.
    Tallow.

    That’s most of our (bulky and low-value) export economy there.

    Is it correct that just a few years ago it was still the case that squash earned as much for the country as the entire clothing fashion industry?

    • Ad 1.1
      20 March 2014 at 12:24 pm

      And from the great GDP and exporting surge we are going through now and into 14-15:

      “Manufacturing activity grew 2.1 per cent in the final quarter of 2013, driven by increases in food, beverage, and tobacco, and machinery and equipment manufacturing. Manufacturing activity is now at its highest level since March 2006.” – NZHerald

      Tobacco? Really? Does tax count as a value-add? Increase must come from the Lower Hutt plant expansion. (Sure ain’t from my annual cigar)

    • Kevin Welsh 1.2
      20 March 2014 at 4:28 pm

      A few years ago I worked for an advertising agency in Hawkes Bay and one of the jobs I worked on was packaging for processed apples for commercial kitchens. The raw, pre-processed apples, were imported from China while apples from local orchards were rotting on the ground.

      Just an example of raw product being imported unnecessarily.

  2. Colonial Viper 2
    20 March 2014 at 10:39 am

    We also like exporting new grads.

    • RedBaronCV 2.1
      20 March 2014 at 11:46 am

      For lack of job opportunity here as we have exported their jobs.
      And since I need to vent – do our MP’s think they are in parliament on behalf of multi nationals and australians? Looked like it to me.

      • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1
        20 March 2014 at 2:35 pm

        And since I need to vent – do our MP’s think they are in parliament on behalf of multi nationals and australians? Looked like it to me.

        QFT

        Our politicians and business leaders have been screwing over NZ for the last thirty years solely to benefit the foreign corporations and the 1%ers.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.2
      20 March 2014 at 2:33 pm

      Which is a particularly raw product and has massive potential when utilised in a value add form.

  3. RedBaronCV 3
    20 March 2014 at 11:47 am

    And back to the main post – article in today’s Dom Post extolling China’s delight in our low value commodity exports wood – uurgh

    • Mike S 3.1
      21 March 2014 at 1:12 am

      Yep, we export raw logs to China, then Fletcher’s or Carter Holt’s Chinese subsidiary processes it cheaply into low quality panels which we have to import through Fletcher’s because we don’t make them here and which Fletchers then sells to us at massive profit; to a captive market base (They have Christchurch contract).

      We also export our scrap metal, mostly to China, who process it and sell it back to us as a lower quality steel or as consumer goods they’ve manufactured from it.

  4. Ad 4
    20 March 2014 at 12:32 pm

    I forgot:
    aluminium, from two bulk commodities joined together.

    BTW There’s a post on TransportBlog about how NZ could go to 100% local renewable energy.

    Can anyone name a town in New Zealand other than Wellington or Auckland that is not dependent on bulk exports? Dunedin maybe? Whether it’s oil or apples, we have always had a bulk commodity economy (apart from two decades from 1945).

    Is this simply too hard a problem to solve if so much of New Zealand and so much of its momentum is geared this way?
    Consider: a post-bulk-exporting New Plymouth, or Invercargill, or Napier, or Tauranga, or Gisborne, or Whangarei etc etc. Husks.

    Lynn, I don’t think the political economy can stand another Structural Adjustment a la 1985. Do you?

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      20 March 2014 at 2:38 pm

      We’re not surviving the structural readjustment of the 4th Labour government which pretty much means that we have to go through another such adjustment. An adjustment which will make our economy sustainable.

  5. marty mars 5
    20 March 2014 at 12:37 pm

    Great post – thanks for all the info and analysis. I agree with your conclusions.

  6. Ennui 6
    20 March 2014 at 12:45 pm

    LPrent, your column is a sad commentary upon the shallow thinking of successive (including Labour) administrations. Its classic neo lib territory here, the buyers are a cartel who don’t want us to receive anything but the lowest price, but wont actually free the market up to deliver a good result for us. And they want us to buy an equivalent amount of imported oil at a premium. The key phrase missing in your column is “economic sovereignty”.

    We as a nation have never had economic sovereignty, yet we have for long periods ascribed to the concept of collective security for our society. That was damned by Douglas and Lange as “Fortress NZ”, and our semi protectionist regime as a “Polish shipyard”.

    The saddest part of this whole fiasco is that the “Left” in general have failed to mount a consistent cogent criticism of “free markets” and ” Free Trade agreements” and “international finance”. In this our parliamentary “Left” obfuscate, they wont rock the boat because they think it unelectable to do so. Meanwhile the boat sails in a stormy sea, it is already rocking.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.1
      20 March 2014 at 2:41 pm

      The saddest part of this whole fiasco is that the “Left” in general have failed to mount a consistent cogent criticism of “free markets” and ” Free Trade agreements” and “international finance”.

      And the reason for that failure is that most of the left still believe in the failed capitalist system.

      Meanwhile the boat sails in a stormy sea, it is already rocking.

      Rocking? It’s friggen sinking.

    • Mike S 6.2
      21 March 2014 at 1:16 am

      Is it because they “think it unelectable to do so” or is it because they’re attached to the same puppet strings as the national party is?

  7. geoff 7
    20 March 2014 at 12:58 pm

    Nice analysis, Lynn.
    Another example of National’s moral bankruptcy.

  8. Tracey 8
    20 March 2014 at 1:11 pm

    saw an interesting use of the word improving in a hwadline in the herald aboutwhy oil is over $100 ” demand for fuel improving “

    • Macro 8.1
      20 March 2014 at 2:02 pm

      yeah! sick really. 🙁
      financial whizz kids terminology
      gezz those people have sh*t for brains.

      • Tracey 8.1.1
        20 March 2014 at 5:32 pm

        I guess thats cos economists believe if something is increasing there must be improvement. Tight righty believes this about gdp. If it is increasing things must be better…

        • Macro 8.1.1.1
          20 March 2014 at 5:52 pm

          yes. we had it today from the media – gdp growing at 2. something! wow!! it’s nonsense of course. but its all they seem to know.

          • Tracey 8.1.1.1.1
            20 March 2014 at 6:43 pm

            Yup. Gdp grows and has grown over the last 40 years… so has the gap between rich and poor… rents… the number in poverty… yup its great news for sure.

            • Mike S 8.1.1.1.1.1
              21 March 2014 at 1:24 am

              And let’s not forget what a woefully inadequate measure of economic growth GDP is anyway. For example, profit generated here which goes to overseas shareholders is included in GDP even though the money goes offshore!

    • Mike S 8.2
      21 March 2014 at 1:18 am

      Looks like a typo to me. Surely they meant to use ‘increasing’ ?

  9. exitlane 9
    20 March 2014 at 5:07 pm

    Latest NZ Energy Quarterly Report

    NZ oil production is down 18.3% in last year ! You can see in the chart how the steep decline began in 2007. The decline is accelerating and at this rate local production will be near zero by 2020.

    6 wasted years under National to lower our dependence on oil imports.

    "Policymakers are too focused on the supply side, on trying to change the mix of energy sources we rely on, and not doing enough to unlock the gains that can be made on the demand side through greater energy efficiency."
    Christoph Frei, secretary general of the World Energy Council

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11222757

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    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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