Minister’s foreword

Ensuring New Zealand holds enough reserve stocks to ride out disruptions is a key pillar of fuel security. It is a critical insurance policy needed to safeguard against the low probability, but potentially devastating impacts that a severe and sustained fuel disruption might have.

The minimum stockholding obligation will commence on 1 January 2025, requiring fuel importers to hold 28 days’ cover for petrol, 24 days’ for jet fuel and 21 days’ for diesel. I am not satisfied that 21 days’ cover is enough to keep as reserve stocks for diesel. It is our most important fuel and we need to hold enough diesel onshore to keep essential goods moving through the country and essential services running, even if fuel supply chains have been disrupted.

This discussion document seeks your feedback on options that would increase our diesel reserves from 21 to 28 days’ cover – roughly 70 million litres of additional diesel. Increasing our diesel reserves to 28 days’ cover would allow our essential services to operate for four months, with rationing at 25%.

I welcome your feedback on the options in this paper to increase our diesel reserves. Please provide feedback on the proposals to gasfuelpolicy@mbie.govt.nz by 6 December 2024.

Hon Shane Jones
Associate Minister for Energy

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