Fuel disruption: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reassures Kiwis not to be concerned by shipment departure delay

The Prime Minister is wanting to reassure New Zealanders not to be concerned by delays to a fuel shipment, saying the Government is confident in upcoming supply.

In its update on fuel stocks on Wednesday, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said the departure of “one small shipment” had been delayed.

“As some countries have closed their export facilities, more vessels are using Singapore as their primary loading hub - leading to congestion and delays,” said MBIE

“The fuel companies have confirmed that supply chains continue to operate, although these types of delays are likely to become more common.”

Asked by the Herald whether New Zealanders should be concerned, Christopher Luxon said the Government was in conversation with fuel importers every day and had “very good visibility” over the next three weeks.

He described it as “not material at all” and repeatedly sought to reassure New Zealanders there was “no risk of disruption to our future fuel supply”.

Asked to provide more detail on why the shipment was delayed, Luxon responded: “Sorry, I’m only aware of it in a cursory thing because [the Herald] brought it up”.

Including it in MBIE’s update was “just making sure we’re being transparent with you”.

“I just want to reassure you that if you understand the fuel markets and how they work and how transportation moves from production to storage to transport to refineries and out to transport to customers all around the world, there is normal sequencing because ships may have come in earlier, later, and there’s just a bit of manoeuvring around.”

He said there is “genuinely no concern there” and the Government had “complete reassurance” about fuel supply over three weeks.

“We are also really reassured and confident because we have our fuel importers providing us with sensitive commercial information that gives us confidence that those orders are confirmed out to the end of May and then planned quite well into June.”

The MBIE update shows 25.3 days’ worth of petrol in-country, 20.8 days’ worth of diesel, and 21.3 days’ worth of jet fuel.

When taking into account fuel on water - meaning on ships arriving in New Zealand within three weeks - there is 56.3 days’ worth of petrol, 45.4 days’ worth of diesel and 47 days’ worth of jet fuel.

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

“The data released today shows a decrease across all fuel types since the last update on 13 April.

“Although this is the second consecutive update with drops in total fuel stock, these changes do not raise any immediate concerns.”

This compares to New Zealand last Wednesday having 25.6 days of petrol in-country, 21.7 days of diesel and 25.1 days of jet fuel.

With more fuel on-water, New Zealand’s stock of petrol was previously at 59.7 days’ worth, 49.1 days of diesel and 50.7 days of jet fuel.