Successful marine consent for the Māui natural gas field offshore activities

The Māui natural gas field off the South Taranaki coast has been operating since 1979 and supplied the majority of New Zealand’s natural gas, powering businesses and homes. The transitional provisions of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 (EEZ Act) required Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS) to obtain marine consent to continue undertaking existing natural gas and gas condensate production activities and proposed new activities associated with these operations in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Boffa Miskell was part of a large team who supported Shell Todd Oil Services Limited in the re-consenting process.

Our role was to assess the application from a planning perspective within the legislative framework of the Exclusive Economic Zone Act. This included preparation of expert evidence, attendance at expert conferencing and presenting planning evidence at the hearing before the Committee appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Location

Taranaki

Project team

Catherine Clarke

Worked with

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
ERM New Zealand Limited
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
Resource and Environmental Management Ltd
Fathom Limited Consulting
Blue Planet Marine
MetOcean Solutions Limited
RPS APASA Pty Limited
Marico Marine
Insight Economics

Project date

2014 - 2015

The facilities include two platforms, (MPA and MPB) located approximately 35 km offshore from the Taranaki region; and three submarine pipelines which transport natural gas and condensate between the platforms and to the Māui Production Station, at Oaonui, Taranaki.

A hearing was held over three weeks before a Decision-Making Committee appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Boffa Miskell was part of the core team that throughout the hearing process, assisted with coordinating and reviewing the extensive evidence and proposed conditions of consent. We provided planning evidence at the hearing and attended expert conferencing on proposed consent conditions.

In June 2015, the Committee granted marine consent for offshore activities associated with the Māui natural gas field for the full 35 years, subject to conditions.

The overall effect of the operations at the Māui offshore facilities on the environment and existing interests was found to be negligible to minor. Many of the effects identified were found to be localised and of a short duration. The Committee considered that adverse effects can be appropriately avoided, remedied or mitigated through the imposition of conditions on the marine consent and the requirements of other marine management regimes. No appeals to the High Court were lodged on the marine consent decision.