He told the Energy Federation in Wellington on Friday that gas still had a key role to play in the country’s sustainable energy future as it was cleaner, in terms of greenhouse gas emissons, than oil or coal.

“As emissions restrictions invariably tighten, the use of gas will increasingly provide a competitive advantage,” he said.

“Furthermore, gas use often has a smaller environmental footprint than alternative thermal fuel options, and direct use of gas can enhance energy efficiency.”

In view of these advantages, the government had implemented a suite of measures designed to encourage the exploration and development of New Zealand’s gas reserves to facilitate the gas sector’s transition to the post-Maui era.

Measures included royalty reductions, a relaxation in the petroleum exploration tax regime, seismic acquisition funding, and the implementation of a co-regulatory governance arrangement for the gas sector.

In addition, the review of the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy was likely lead to a replacement of the current strategy in the next 12-18 months.

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority was leading this project, working closely with the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Transport and other government agencies, Mallard said.

The project team would assess the performance of existing government strategies, evaluate how international best practice in energy efficiency and renewables could be applied, and respond to growing international and local energy security issues posed by “peak oil”.

Subsequent phases of the project would set the future direction and redesign of government energy efficiency objectives that already included achieving a 20% improvement in energy efficiency and an additional 30PJ of renewable energy by 2012.