Peters: NZ First won't compromise on oil and gas permits position

New Zealand First will not compromise on its agreed position around oil and gas exploration, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says.

"We will not compromise what we've agreed on," Peters said on Tuesday.

"[New Zealand First] has assigned a fair bit of time and a lot of people to make sure that we know exactly where this is going in line with what we've agreed with the Labour Party."

It was not immediately clear what agreement he was referring to as it is not contained in the coalition agreement between Labour and New Zealand First.

A spokesman for Peters later clarified that Peters was talking about NZ First's policy position which is "to support the extractive industries while ensuring core conservation values are maintained".

The Coalition Government is at a critical point in its decision-making over the future of oil and gas exploration permits, with announcements on the future of the annual block-offer tender system expected within weeks.

The New Zealand First support for the extractive industries is at odds with Labour's confidence and supply partner the Green Party's aim of halting all new mining permits.

But Peters said his party supported the decision-making process, and confirmed future and offshore permits were "in the mix" for future consideration but current permits were safe.

He suggested the National Party would have to support any decision Labour and New Zealand First made, even if the Greens did not.

"There is a massive majority in the House, I would have thought, for where Labour and New Zealand First go on this matter … where's the National Party going to go?"

He also took a swipe at National leader Simon Bridges who said NZ First had been reassuring the mining industry following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's comments on Monday around the future of gas and oil exploration.

"I don't want to respond to someone who's the temporary leader of the National Party saying what we might have said. I can tell you this; we're going to be around a whole lot longer than Simon Bridges as the leader of the National Party," Peters said.

Regional Economic Development Minister and NZ First MP Shane Jones said he had received a couple of phone calls from industry players asking when the transition away from fossil fuels was likely to have an impact and whether it would have a flow-on effect on other provincial industries such as fisheries.

NZ First had a long history of supporting primary industries and the extractive sector but New Zealand was going to have to "bite the bullet" on some of its historic industries if it was to meet its climate change targets, Jones said.

Bridges said oil and gas was a multibillion-dollar sector, putting around $2.5 billion into the economy every year, a big export earner and sustained up to 11,000 jobs.

"You can't just slice that off and think it doesn't have an effect, particularly in Taranaki but also on the West Coast. These are … high value sectors and I hope that some in Labour, who are more sensible about these things, and New Zealand First will stand up for our regions," he said.

Numbers

There are 31 active active petroleum exploration permits, ranging in duration from 10 to 26 years, which allow the holder to search for both oil and gas.

Taranaki – 22
Canterbury Basin - 2
Great South Basin – 2
East Coast Basin – 4
Waikato, King Country and Whanganui Basin - 1

Total permits awarded since block offers were introduced in 2012

2012 – 10
2013 – 10
2014 – 15
2015 – 9
2016 – 1
2017 – 1

78 permits have been surrendered since the start of 2012, most of which were not granted through the block offer process. 74 were exploration permits and four were prospecting permits.