Labour questions drilling cuts

Press, 7 May 1983, Page 12

Labour questions drilling cuts

PA Wellington The Government should explore the Ngawha geothermal field in Northland more fully before it cut its drilling programme, the Opposition has said. The Minister of Energy, Mr Birch, announced yesterday that the Government had decided to use only one geothermal drilling rig instead of the two now in use in New Zealand. The move will eventually save 55 million. Mr Birch said that the continuous working of two rigs could not be justified because electricity from Ngawha would now not be needed on the present demand projection until about the turn of the century. He said that demand had

fallen because of the indefinite deferral of the Aramoana aluminium smelter. One rig is working at Ngawha and the other in the Bay of Plenty. Ngawha’s first deep well is expected to be completed soon, and the rig will then leave the site. The Government had decided not to proceed with a second deep well at Ngawha and so the continuous working of two drilling rigs could not be justified, the Minister said. The Opposition’s spokesman on energy, Mr R. J. Tizard, said that the Ngawha work would have to be done some time, and Filing it merely added expense in the long run. —