Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Do we need to panic about fuel supplies?

Now look, I don’t think there’s any reason to panic, but if you’ve been reading the news closely - and especially if you’ve been reading more widely than just the New Zealand news - you’re probably starting to feel a little nervous about what might happen to fuel supplies here and the possibility that we may have to start rationing.

The Strait of Hormuz is still effectively shut. The Iranians have now attacked 13 tankers. The boss of the Saudi-backed oil company has warned this could be catastrophic for the world’s economy if that strait isn’t opened relatively soon.

South Korea has floated the possibility of banning fuel exports. That’s a problem for us - it’s where we get roughly half of our fuel.

Parts of rural Western Australia have already run out of diesel because the townies are buying so much of it. They’re panicking. We have around 50 days’ worth of fuel in this country. Half of that, though, is on the water - and ships can be and have been diverted - so you can only really lock in about half of what we’ve got.

The Minister is now taking advice on how to manage demand, meaning how to get us to use less. One of the ideas he’s considering is the return of carless days.

There are normally very level‑headed people now warning us that we should at least start mentally preparing for the possibility that we may have to ration the fuel we use.

Now, rationing sounds bad. It sounds like something from World War II. But it might not be that bad. It may not be carless days all over again - although that does feel like a significant escalation of the situation. And of course this whole thing might blow over tomorrow.

In fact, Donald Trump is likely to call the attacks off the minute they start having really significant negative impacts on oil supply and world economies because he is so fixated on global markets and making money. The moment he cannot talk markets back into a good place is the moment I think he starts to call it off.

But the thing is, it’s already having an impact, isn’t it? It will already be wiping money off our GDP. And the longer it goes on, the more it takes out of GDP.

Now, I’m thinking this is not going to end in the worst-case scenario the Minister is preparing for. I don’t know whether that’s my wishful or my rational brain talking but as they say - hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, look, I don't think there's any reason to panic,
but if you read the news closely, and if you
read more widely than just the local New Zealand news,
you're probably starting to get a little nervous. I would
say about what might happen to fuel here and the
possibility that we may have to start rationing. The Strait
of Humus is still effectively shut. The Iranians have attacked
thirteen tankers. Now. The boss of the Saudi backed oil

(00:21):
company has warned this could be catastrophic for the world's
economy if that strait isn't opened relatively soon. South Korea
has floated the possibility of banning exports of fuel. That's
a problem for us. It's where we get roughly half
of our fuel. Parts of Western Australia, rural Western Australia
have now run out of diesel because the Tawnies are
buying so much are panicking. We have around about fifty

(00:43):
days worth of fuel in this country. Half of that, though,
is on the water and ships can and have been diverted,
so you can only lock in about half of what
we've got. The Minister is now taking advice on how
to manage our demand as and get us to use
less and one of the ideas he's considering and taking
advice on, as Carlos Days. There are now normally very

(01:03):
level headed people who are warning us to at least
start mentally preparing for the possibility that we may have
to ration what fuel we use here. Now, rationing sounds bad.
It sounds like something from World War Two. It might
not be that bad. It may not be Carlos Days
all over again. That does feel like a significant escalation
of the situation. This thing might blow over tomorrow. In fact,

(01:25):
Donald Trump is likely to call the attacks off the
minute that it starts to have really significantly negative impacts
on the oil supply and world economies. Are world economics
because he is so fixated on global markets and making money.
The minute that he cannot talk markets back into a
good place is the minute that I think he starts
to call it off. But the thing is, it's already

(01:46):
having an impact, isn't it. It will already be wiping
money off our GDP. The longer it goes on, the
more it takes out of GDP. Now I'm thinking this
is not going to end up in the worst case
scenario that the minister is preparing for I don't know
where that's my wishful or my rational brain, but as
they say, it's best to hope for the best, prepare
for the worst. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,

(02:09):
listen live to News Talks at B from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.