Urgent plan needed after OMV flags end to Māui gas, Methanex closure looms, says union
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
The closure of Methanex’s last remaining factory in Taranaki would hardly be unexpected but would have knock-on effects far beyond the families of the 170 or so workers still employed at the site, the E tū union is warning.
Last week, Austrian oil giant OMV revealed it had notified the Government that it expected to close its Māui gas field by the end of this year, although its New Zealand subsidiary hedged somewhat on the likely timing.
Methanex sources the natural gas that it processes into methanol from the ageing gas field and it had previously been assumed both would need to shut up shop some time next year.
The Canadian-owned company has not so far commented on OMV’s statement but could update investors when it releases its first quarter results on Thursday.
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The director of E tū’s engineering, infrastructure and extractive industries division, Mat Danaher, said New Plymouth and the wider Taranaki region had lost about 1700 jobs in the sector over the past few years.
Engineers who were still employed were often having to travel further afield for work, he said.
“We've got a community, a city, that’s in decline.
“If something isn’t done to try and find alternative employment or work of similar or equal value for people in the area, we are going to see devastating consequences for New Plymouth.”
The need for a plan was now urgent, he said.
Taranaki industrial rigger and scaffolder Jesse Davis said the pie had been shrinking for many years, with a big ripple effect through the region.
“People are having to either move across the ditch, look in other regions for work, change their careers, or take lower paying jobs in the area just to stay.
“There really hasn’t been anything to counteract the slow decline.”
The development of wind farms offshore from Taranaki could help keep decent jobs in the region and it was a shame they had not so far progressed, he said.
Resources Minister Shane Jones said it was up to Methanex to decide what to do.
“Obviously, there are a lot of Kiwis employed there, but in the absence of gas, it’s difficult to see how they can maintain operations.
“The scarcity of gas is driving, in that part of New Zealand, de-industrialisation.”