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The government says it’s entering into an agreement to support an additional 90 million litres of storage for diesel at Marsden Point in Northland to boost New Zealand’s fuel resilience.
The announcement today, April 2, comes as the Middle East military conflict continues to impact global fuel supplies, says Regional Development and Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones.
Senior government ministers yesterday signed off on up to $21.6 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) to Channel Infrastructure NZ Ltd.
“This financial arrangement will allow Channel Infrastructure, which owns and operates the former refinery site at Marsden Point, to increase its diesel storage by recommissioning storage tanks with a combined 90 million-litre capacity,” Jones says.
“Channel Infrastructure has assured the government it can do this within two months.
“This is an ambitious but doable project which will help ensure New Zealand is well-placed to weather the fuel supply issues New Zealand faces.
“While we’re acutely aware of the importance of petrol and jet fuel, it’s diesel that’s the lifeblood of our economy.
“We know we have a secure supply until the end of May. If the opportunities arise for New Zealand to secure diesel supplies over and above what we’re expecting, we need to be able to store it,” says Jones.
“Storage of fuel supplies on a large scale is an issue, given much of what we had has been sitting idle at Marsden Point for a number of years.”
Work is expected to begin on the refurbishment of the tanks, which can hold about eight days’ supply, within days, he says.
The government say it will be keeping a “very close eye on progress” to ensure it’s ready to take diesel as quickly as possible.
The RIF financial support has been secured through funds tagged for projects that have been approved in principle but not likely to go ahead, says the government.
