What long-term contracts, timelines, and other commitments are in effect?
“The first type of long-term contract is a permit. These are issued by government under the Crown Minerals Act 1991 and grant a right to the permit owner to engage in certain oil and gas activities. There are two main permit types: exploration and mining (resource development and production). The exploration permit allows companies to explore an area for a commercial resource and, if one is discovered, provides a right to apply and be granted a mining permit. The mining permit grants the owner exclusivity to the resource and assurances they can develop and extract from it for a long time. The latter is important, as the cost to develop an oil and gas resource can exceed a billion dollars – an investment this large can take decades to recover.”
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2024/07/11/oil-and-gas-exploration-ban-reversal-expert-qa/