As the result of two successful prosecutions by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), two men have been sentenced for separate breaches to the Biosecurity Act after being caught with prohibited plant material. In the first of two cases, Yaping Wang was intercepted on January 12 at Auckland Airport with a number of packets of seeds concealed in his jacket …

The controversial oil and gas discovery technique known as fracking is safe when conducted to best practice standards, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, in an interim report However, she will spend the next six months assessing whether New Zealand’s “fragmented” regulatory system is up to scratch and lays out seven recommendations in the meantime relating to …

New Zealand Oil & Gas has agreed to acquire interests in three offshore Taranaki permits from ASX-listed Octanex for US$12.5 million plus a share of seismic costs. The company will pay US$12.5 million for a 12.5 percent interest in PE51906 which holds the Makatu prospect and is expected to be drilled in the second half of next year. Octanex will …