Act Party leader David Seymour says the government's decision to ban new oil and gas exploration in New Zealand will actually harm the environment.

The government will not offer any more offshore oil exploration permits, in a move environmentalists describe as historic and opponents say is "economic vandalism" that threaten thousands of jobs.

The ACT Party says the change will put 11,000 jobs at risk and could actually harm the environment by forcing New Zealand to buy dirtier sources of energy overseas to meet power demand.

READ MORE:
Ardern bans oil exploration: ''Today we have drawn a line in the sand'
PEPANZ: Govt has no idea how the sector works

"The oil and gas industry creates thousands of jobs, contributes $2.5 billion to the New Zealand economy and $500 million to the government in royalties each year," leader David Seymour said.

And Seymour told Leighton Smith that rather than protecting the environment, the move will actually have the opposite affect.

"The last thing you want to do is ban oil exploration in New Zealand where we have good laws and institutions. We have pretty rigorous regulation around the way people explore and mitigate any kind of harm they might do to the dolphins.

"You force New Zealanders to purchase petroleum products off foreigners, who in many cases, don't have the same level of regulation that we do.

"Just ask yourself: Would you trust the environmental regulations in Indonesia, or in New Zealand?"

LISTEN ABOVE AS DAVID SEYMOUR SPEAKS WITH LEIGHTON SMITH