The Wealth Beneath Our Feet - full report (6.4 MB ... - Venture Taranaki

O&G vs dairyThe O&G industry in Taranaki can be compared to theother major industries in the region. A good gauge of itssignificance is a comparison to the dairy industry 4 .Indicator O&G Dairy TaranakiTotalEmployment (FTEs) 3,206 6,436 47,930GDP ($mn) 1,684 678 5,307Labour525,296 105,345 103,162Productivity (NZ$/FTE)Business units 130 2,621 14,517Source: BERL regional database, Statistics NZWhile the O&G industry employs lessthan half as many people as the dairyindustry, it contributes almost 2.5times more to regional GDP. This islargely a result of the capital intensityof the industry, which results in highlabour productivity of the sector atover $525,000 per FTE.4This includes both dairy cattle farming and dairy processing.6.3 MAJOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTSThe approach applied in this report differs from that in the2007 BERL EIA report in that a full life-cycle assessmenthas been undertaken. The process assessed spans fromexploration through to production and decommissioning,and is broken down to a project or well basis.As such, industry activity has peaks and troughsdepending upon the projects in train and the stage ofdevelopment. In recent times, there have been a numberof field and well development projects (new well projectsas well as existing well development projects) that haveseen the industry operate at a relatively high level ofactivity for a number of years. These ‘major’ projectsare largely completed and activity is starting to ease(although there are still some large projects underway,for example the Todd Energy LPG facility).The development of new technology in the global O&Gindustry has resulted in changes to how developments arelikely to be undertaken in the future and also provides theopportunity to extend the productive life of existing fields.For example, the Maui field was anticipated to bewritten off as fully depleted several years ago. However,new technology has enabled small pockets of gas tobe detected and other areas of low pressure gas tobe extracted. In addition much of the remaining gas istrapped between layers of water and is being accessedby horizontal drilling.46The Wealth Beneath Our Feet