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Delegates sat up bewildered when United States investor manager William Buechler (pictured) suggested we were “floating on a sea of oil”, referring to our huge Exclusive Economic Zone. Suffice to add – Buechler beat up huge petroleum investment opportunities for Australia and New Zealand at the 2010 Petroleum Conference.
A keynote speaker at the petroleum conference, Buechler is president of Buechler Capital Asset Management Company. He told delegates the global financial crisis had created a reallocation of assets for investment around the world and the US, UK, France, Italy, Ireland, Greece and other countries now looked less like good places for investors concerned with safety. Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand, were among the nations now considered safer havens. Delegates were surprised when he made his “floating on a sea of oil” comments, referring to our huge Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Extended Continental Shelf (ECS), of 5.5 million square kilometres, about 96 percent of which is under the ocean and much of that petroleum prospective. With such a vast area in our clasp, Buechler suggests New Zealand should be known as the world’s eighth continent with continental-sized natural resources, including oil and gas. Buechler called the government’s multi-million-dollar seismic acquisition programme a “master stroke of marketing” that is creating a new awareness and interest in the country and the arrival of Brazilian government-controlled Petrobras and US major Anadarko earlier this year confirmed those opportunities. If we were to get as lucky as Norway, then proceeds and royalties from petroleum resources must be treated as investment capital, not as revenue, he says. “Embrace the investment opportunity and get it right,” he says.
Energy NZ Vol.4 No.6 November-December 2010 |
Australia, which was looking to become a leader in the export of gas to energy-hungry Asian nations, was at the beginning of some “region changing” events, while New Zealand was at the beginning of some “country changing” events, which were sending out positive signals to global explorers, he told delegates.