First Gas Limited is a natural gas transmission and distribution company in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. First Gas's network has 2,204 km of high pressure pipelines and 4,800 km of gas distribution pipelines. Through Flex Gas, First Gas owns and operates the
Ahuroa Gas Storage Facility
The Ahuroa Gas Storage Facility is an underground natural gas storage facility situated at Ahuroa in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, owned by Flex Gas, a subsidiary of First Gas. Flex Gas is the trading name of Gas Services New Zealand.
The ...
.
History
The Natural Gas Corporation (NGC) was established by the New Zealand government to buy, process and wholesale natural gas from the
Kapuni gas field, which was discovered in 1959.
NGC built the first high pressure gas transmission lines in the late 1960s, initially supplying Kapuni gas to Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, and Wellington. The network was expanded through the 1970s and 1980s, supporting the major expansion of the oil and gas industry at that time.
NGC was privatised in 1992.
The
Australian Gas Light (AGL) sold NGC to
Vector Limited
Vector Limited is an electricity and gas distribution company in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the national number one provider of electricity distribution, number one provider of electricity and gas metering and number two wholesaler of LPG. ...
in 2004 and 2005. The company was again sold in 2016 to First State Funds, being renamed First Gas during the acquisition.
In 2016, First Gas purchased the Maui natural gas pipeline from Maui Development for $335 million. This is the main gas transmission pipeline in New Zealand. It is 307 km long, stretching from the Oaonui production station north of
Ōpunake
Ōpunake is a small town on the southwest coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 45 kilometres southwest of New Plymouth. Rahotu is 16 km to the northwest. Manaia is 29 km to the southeast. State Highw ...
through to
Huntly Power Station in
Huntly
Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...
, and carries 78% of New Zealand's onshore and offshore natural gas. At that time, ownership of Maui Development was between Shell (84%), OMV NZ (10%) and
Todd Energy (6%).
In 2017, First Gas purchased the
Ahuroa Gas Storage Facility
The Ahuroa Gas Storage Facility is an underground natural gas storage facility situated at Ahuroa in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, owned by Flex Gas, a subsidiary of First Gas. Flex Gas is the trading name of Gas Services New Zealand.
The ...
from
Contact Energy
Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity, natural gas, broadband and LPG.
It is the second-largest electricity generator in New Zealand (after Meridian Energy), g ...
.
Statistics
Distribution
See also
*
Oil and gas industry in New Zealand
The oil and gas industry in New Zealand explores and develops oil and gas fields, and produces and distributes petroleum products and natural gas.
In 2018, New Zealand's self-sufficiency in oil (mmbls production divided by consumption) was 17%, i ...
References
External links
*
{{New Plymouth District
Companies based in New Plymouth
Oil and gas companies of New Zealand
New Plymouth