Concerns raised over sale of Maari Oil Field

When oil company Tamarind Taranaki abruptly abandoned the Tui oil field in December, it left taxpayers facing a bill of at least 155 million dollars to plug the undersea wells. Now a whistleblower inside the oil and gas industry is warning there's a risk the government might end up footing the bill to decommission another Taranaki oilfield. The Austrian owned oil firm OMV is planning to sell a majority share of the Maari oilfield to Singaporean company, Jadestone for 75 million dollars. Climate Justice Taranaki researcher Catherine Cheung is also worrried, she believes the situation is reminiscent of Tui.