Gas decline cuts major users' production and increases coal-generated electricity by 99%

NZ's largest energy user Methanex has been cutting back production. (Image: Methanex)

Thu, 13 Jun 2024

The decline in gas supply led to cuts in gas consumption and production from major energy users and a 99% increase in coal use to generate electricity, according to the latest statistics.The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) latest energy quarterly data said for the quarter ending March gas net production was 31.89 petajoules (PJ), a 12% decrease on March 2023 and the lowest quarterly net production since March 1985.Not all of this was from a natural decline in NZ’s sunset gas fields.“A planned outage at...

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