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Record crude oil prices, petrol prices and geothermal electricity generation marked New Zealand's energy trends in the September quarter this year.
Motorists paid record prices for petrol ($2.19 a litre for regular petrol) and there were record international crude oil prices (US$147 a barrel) followed by a dramatic fall, according to the Ministry of Economic Development's quarterly energy report.
It also showed domestic oil production rose to its highest level for a 12-month period. Crude oil and condensate production of 31.4 petajoules was 11 per cent less than the previous quarter. When combined with the previous three quarters it was the highest ever.
New Zealand produced 45pj of gas.
Coal production was 21 per cent lower in the September quarter than the previous quarter, but up 8 per cent from the same quarter last year.
The country produced a total of 11.352GWh of electricity from mainly hydro, geothermal, wind, gas and coal.
With the commissioning of Mighty River Power's 100MW Kawerau plant, quarterly generation from geothermal sources topped 1000GWh for the first time - an increase of 26 per cent on the previous quarter.
New Zealand produced 2050 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents from electricity generation greenhouse gas emissions - up 16 per cent from the previous quarter due to a significant increase in generation from coal.
- NZPA
