Four vessels will deliver fuel to ports around New Zealand between now and Saturday ensuring continuity of supply according to the oil industry.
As the pipeline outage reaches its seventh day, the fuel industry is also working with government around the possibility of using tanks at Auckland’s Wynyard Wharf for fuel distribution.
Defence force road tankers are also being assessed for use in the national fleet as soon as possible.
The government is also allowing the oil distribution network to increase the amount of fuel carried in each truck over the next few days.
Two dedicated coastal shipping vessels are continuing to load fuel from the operational Marsden Point refinery for distribution around the country’s ports.
The coastal vessel, Matuku, is arriving in Tauranga with 39,200 metric tonnes comprised of high-grade petrol, regular-grade petrol, diesel and bunker fuel oil.
A second vessel, Kakariki, is leaving for Lyttelton, arriving early on Friday morning. It has high-grade petrol, regular-grade petrol, jet fuel, diesel, bunker fuel oil and bitumen on board.
The Kakariki will then continue south to Dunedin, resupplying all grades.
An import vessel is arriving in Tauranga on Thursday. It will discharge regular petrol and diesel. It will then travel to Lyttelton, arriving on Sunday, to deliver additional regular-grade petrol, jet fuel, and diesel.
It will then go to Bluff discharging regular-grade petrol and diesel.
Another import vessel is arriving in Lyttelton on Saturday, where it will release jet fuel. It will then travel to Wellington where it will discharge regular petrol.
It will then go across the harbour to Wellington Airport and completely fill up the jet fuel tanks.
The spokesperson representing Refinery NZ customers, Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited manager Andrew McNaught, says the industry was working closely together to minimise the pipeline outage impact on supply.
“We appreciate that as we enter the seventh day of the pipeline outage, the pressure on airlines and their customers does not go away and the 30% allocation is a significant challenge,” says McNaught.
“We very much appreciate the way our airline customers and Auckland International Airport are managing this issue,” he says.
“While the shipping schedule should provide confidence around the national fuel supply position – particularly around ensuring jet fuel supplies in airports supporting Auckland – the industry’s focus remains squarely on providing safe and secure supplies of ground transport fuels into Auckland,” says McNaught.
