“It’s hard to see how and why government cannot see self-sufficiency in oil supply as anything other than a strategic national security issue,” says Peanz executive officer Mike Patrick.

“Our Australian counterparts are about 70% self-sufficient in oil supplies, and yet are concerned enough to put in place incentives to encourage exploration for and production of more oil.

They were also so concerned about oil supply security that they had announced a trial of a squadron of robot spy planes as an anti-terror screen around Australia’s rich oil and gas reserves, Patrick added.

“New Zealand is closer to 20% in terms of self-sufficiency of oil supplies, yet nobody seems to be worried about this.”

Energy Minister Pete Hodgson late last week said he was working with oil companies to bring this country’s oil stocks back up to the International Energy Agency 90-day minimum as an adequate buffer against disruptions to global oil supplies.

A Ministry for Economic Development review had found New Zealand only had 60 days’ supply, when last May oil companies reported over 100 days' supply. This reported discrepancy was largely due to longstanding problems with the quality of data provided about stock levels, but also declining domestic production.

However, Patrick said New Zealand’s high dependence on imported oil, coupled with the potential for disruptions in world oil supply, should make “any prudent analyst sit up and think”.

While the recently announced government taxation and royalty incentives for gas were appreciated, “it is hard to understand why these incentives are not also to be applied to oil production, particularly given the balance of payment implications of a reducing self-sufficiency”.

Oil self-sufficiency peaked about a decade ago at over 60% but was now down to about 20%.

Hodgson also released the latest edition of the MED’s Energy Data File, which shows total primary energy supply declined by 4% during 2003 to 748PJ, primarily due to a 29% drop in indigenous oil production (down to the equivalent of only 14.9PJ) and a 24% decline in gas (down from 234.9PJ to 179.5PJ).

The formerly mighty Maui field continues to falter, producing only 66% of 179.5PJ, down from the 80% in previous years. At the start of 2004 remaining total gas reserves were 1462PJ (gross), only slightly down on the previous year, reflecting upward reserves revisions by some operators.