Fuel stock update: About three weeks of diesel in country as total supply dips

New Zealand’s fuel stocks dipped in the latest update, with there being just about three weeks’ worth of diesel in the country as of last Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, as of the evening of Wednesday, April 8, New Zealand had 25.6 days of petrol in-country, 21.7 days of diesel and 25.1 days of jet fuel.

There is additional fuel on ships on the water coming to New Zealand. As of Wednesday, there were 14 ships expected to come here within the next three weeks.

Taking into account that on-water fuel, New Zealand’s stock of petrol sits at 59.7 days’ worth, 49.1 days of diesel and 50.7 days of jet fuel.

“The latest update shows national fuel stocks remain stable with sufficient stock levels across petrol, diesel and jet fuel,” the ministry said.

It said there had been a “slight decrease across all fuel types since the last update on 8 April”.

“Movements remain within expectations and show normal patterns.”

The previous update, which was accurate to the night of Sunday, April 5, showed New Zealand had 28.3 days of petrol in-country, 23.7 days of diesel and 27.9 days of jet fuel.

With the on-water fuel counted, there was 62.6 days’ worth of petrol, 51.7 days’ worth of diesel and 53.5 days’ worth of jet fuel.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon relayed that fuel importers were “highly confident” about future orders, telling Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast that they had orders going into mid-May and beyond.

“Their refineries are finding alternative sources of crude. It is coming at a price, obviously, which is a challenge for everybody, we get that, but my god, if we lose supply, that’s the biggest problem we’ve got,” Luxon said.

While a ceasefire was announced last week between the US and Iran, peace talks over the weekend mediated by Pakistan didn’t lead to a formal agreement.

On Monday morning (NZT), US President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to implement a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.

That is the strait of water through which about 20% of the world’s oil flows on its way to refineries, including those that service fuel to New Zealand.