Regulator’s Update — March 2025

Meet with us in Greymouth

New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZP&M) staff will be in Greymouth on 19 and 20 March 2025 and are available to talk with minerals permit holders about any permitting matters they wish to discuss. 

This visit will also include a session on how to submit annual summary reports (ASRs). An email has been sent to minerals permit holders with further details.

Any questions about ASRs, including about the March event in Greymouth, can be directed to nzpam@mbie.govt.nz.

Mining permits included in Fast-track Approvals Act 2024

Petroleum and Minerals mining permits may be applied for through the Government’s new Fast-track one-stop shop. Those wanting to use the Fast-track process need to meet certain conditions and must consult with the team at New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZP&M) before making an application.

An information website for the Fast-track one-stop shop went live last month, administered by the Environmental Protection Authority.

Fast-track — fasttrack.govt.nz

Information about consulting with NZP&M can be found on the NZP&M website.

Fast-track Approvals process

Update on the Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List

On 31 January at the OceanaGold Waihi operation, the Minister for Resources launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy to 2040 and New Zealand’s first Critical Minerals List. 

The Strategy sets a vision for a minerals sector that supports a productive and resilient economy through responsible and sustainable practices. It also has a goal to double our mineral exports to $3 billion by 2035. 

The Critical Minerals List identifies 37 minerals critical to New Zealand, including 21 that are produced here or with the potential to be produced here in the future. You can read more about the launch.

Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List launched

MBIE is leading Strategy actions, stated in the Delivery Roadmap on pages 18 and 19, which will progress the three outcomes of Productive, Valued and Resilient. You can read more about the Minerals Strategy and Critical minerals List.

Minerals and petroleum — Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

An increase in minerals permit applications

New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZP&M) is experiencing an increase in applications for both new minerals permits and changes to existing minerals permits across the country. 

In 2024, we received 447 minerals permit applications (both new applications, and for changes to existing permits), a 55 per cent increase on the previous year’s total of 288.

Despite this growth, timely permit decisions continue to be a focus area with significant progress made in 2024 on reducing the backlog of permit decisions. 

Figures for 2024 show a 74 per cent increase in minerals permitting output (the number of outcomes made on minerals applications) compared to the previous calendar year.

Permit processing timeliness report: 1 October to 31 December 2024

Update on the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill

The Crown Minerals Amendment Bill makes several changes to the Crown Minerals Act, including removing the ban on new petroleum exploration beyond onshore Taranaki, and changes to increase investor confidence in New Zealand’s petroleum sector.

During the progression of the Bill, a gap was identified in the decommissioning regime. This led to changes being made to the Bill in November 2024. Officials are working through the detail of this, to enable the Bill to advance to its final Parliamentary stages.

Crown Minerals Act Law Changes

Crown Minerals Act Programmes

Submissions have now closed for the Crown Minerals Act Programmes.

Crown Minerals Act 1991 Programmes

Thank you to those who made submissions on the Programmes and who commented on the draft guidelines on financial securities and financial capability to support Chapter 13 of the draft Petroleum Programme. We appreciate the time and energy taken to comment on these technical documents. Now that consultation on the Programmes has closed, Officials are analysing submissions in advance of providing the Minister with advice on the matters raised. As some changes being made reflect the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill 2024, the Minister's decisions and timing of those decisions will depend on the Bill. We will keep you updated as this work progresses.

Natural and orange hydrogen

New Zealand has prospects for naturally occurring hydrogen that is generated below the surface of the earth, and for ‘engineered’ or ‘artificially’ stimulated geological hydrogen (orange hydrogen). The Government has committed to ensure energy settings allow for the exploration of natural geological hydrogen in New Zealand, to maximise future energy resilience. The Government has work underway to clarify regulatory settings and assess if changes are needed to enable exploration for natural hydrogen and development of orange hydrogen. We will keep you informed about dates for public consultation. 

Annual summary reports – due date approaching

Permit holders can submit their 2024 annual summary reports (ASRs) anytime from now until the due date of 31 March 2025. You can find guidance below on submitting your ASR and information about our upcoming in-person workshop for minerals permit holders in Greymouth.

It is a legal requirement that ASRs be submitted by 31 March for every permit that was active during the previous calendar year, even if no activity took place.

Guidance on how to submit your ASR can be found on our website.

Guidance on annual summary reports for Tier 1 or Tier 2 minerals permits

Guidance on annual summary reports for petroleum permits

The easiest way to submit ASRs is through the online permitting system (OPS). This is set up to ask you for the information required for your permit type and has help text to guide you through the process.

Permit holders who haven’t used the OPS before will need to register. This is easy to do. Simply fill in the form on the page linked to below.

Register to manage your permits online

Filing an ASR is a condition of permits and failure to file these can have serious ramifications, including the revocation of a permit or a possible prosecution.

Reminder of changes to Tier 1 iwi engagement report requirements

A reminder to all Tier 1 permit holders that they are now required to share a draft copy of their iwi engagement report with relevant iwi and hapū for comment.  For more information on iwi engagement reports, please refer to our website.

Guidance on iwi engagement reports

Accessing recently drilled petroleum well summary information 

Are you looking for summary information regarding recently drilled petroleum wells? There are several ways to access this information, one through the Geodata Map, the other is using the NZP&M web service if using a desktop GIS application for example ArcGIS pro or MapInfo.

Accessing Recently Drilled Petroleum Well Summary Information