MEDIA STATEMENT 

Tuesday, 18 March 2008

New Zealand Energy Quarterly launched

The first edition of the New Zealand Energy Quarterly was released by the Ministry of Economic Development today.

Replacing Statistics New Zealand’s Quarterly Energy Statistics Hot Off The Press, the new publication presents quarterly statistics on the supply of major fuels, electricity generation and greenhouse gas emissions, and fuel prices to the end of December 2007.

Key highlights of the December 2007 quarter report include:

·         Crude oil production reaching a record high for New Zealand due to the Tui oil field coming on line, boosting oil exports by almost four times compared with the December 2006 quarter.

·         Annual gas production rising almost ten percent compared with 2006, largely due to Pohokura coming on line.

·         New Zealand’s installed wind capacity for electricity generation almost doubling in 2007.

·         A reduction in coal consumption for electricity generation due to the commissioning of Genesis Energy’s e3p efficient gas-fired generation facility. This reduction in coal use for electricity generation helped reduce greenhouse emissions.
 

·         While petrol and diesel prices increased five and 12 per cent respectively during the December 2007 quarter, New Zealand’s strong dollar, especially against the US dollar, continued to shelter motorists from the full impact of high international oil prices.

The New Zealand Energy Quarterly is part of a suite of energy publications produced by the Ministry of Economic Development.  It is free to download or subscribe to by going to www.med.govt.nz/energy/nzeq/.  The Ministry also provides up-to-date information via its energy data webpages at www.med.govt.nz/energy/data/.

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