Shane Jones: Associate Energy Minister on the plans for conserving fuel if the Middle East conflict continues

All options are on the table for conserving fuel if the US-Israel war on Iran continues.

Iran's retaliating with hits on neighbouring countries, and blocking shipping transit through the Strait of Hormuz - sending global fuel prices spiking.

Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones says the Government's working on a plan in case our supplies come under threat.

Jones says we have 50 days fuel here and on the way, but continued supply rests on the length of the conflict.

"Kiwis expect their Government to be proactive, Kiwis expect us to deal with the fact that other countries are hoarding their fuel."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There are calls on the government to start talking realistically
about the possibility of fuel shortages in New Zealand. The
government is taking advice on all options in case our
stocks dry up, and this comes as the country today
released six days worth of supply worth of fuel to
the global market to meet international obligations. Shane Jones is
the Associate Energy Minister in charge of fuel security.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
High Shane Greetings, good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Scale of one to ten. How likely is it that
we have to ration fuel in some way?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, we've already identified that. One of the interventions that
we're going to get advice on is demand restraint, which
actually means ensuring that this situation gets much worse and worse.
We're going to have to look at how we can
stretch our supplies out at home. Fortunately, at the moment
we're still told by the ol companies and the officials
there's fifty days both on the water and in the country.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
What are your options for demand restraint?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Well, one thing that we're going to have to look
at is whether or not we change the characteristics of
the type of fuel that we bring into New Zealand.
That would possibly broaden the sources from which we get
the fuel. I don't want to sound too pointy headed,
but fuel has quite exacting characteristics when it comes into

(01:16):
the country, and now that's one thing that we could
probably find other places to draw fuel from. Number Two,
we'll dust off what the options have been in the past.
And obviously I had the High Commission from Australia into
my office yesterday and he and his people and the
Wellington bureaucrats, along with the Foreign Affairs working very closely

(01:41):
with the Aussies because we're going to have to hang
very tight to them in the event that there is
a set of scarcity problems for us, both in Australia
and New Zealand. There are closest neighbors, there are closest
our lives.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Are you seriously considering Carlo Stay.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yes, No, it's too early to identify any specific intervention.
I mean perhaps there's thing's all over in a week,
who knows. But are you.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Taking advice on it if you're not seriously considering it?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, No, Kiwis expect their government to be proactive. Kiwis
expect us to deal with the fact that other countries
are holding their fuel. They're introducing export restrictions, so What
we need to do is ensure that we've exhaustively looked
at every option, so if things do deteriorate and we

(02:36):
make decisions, they're made on the basis of quality information,
not some grasshopper attitude.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Listen have you, I mean, how do you feel about
the fact that Western Australia has run out of diesel
in rural areas.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah? Well, my message to Kiwi's obviously is that look,
we do have adequate supplies of fuel, but then I've
got no shortage of other people fearful that if we
don't have a contingency plan, we'll get caught on the
hop Those areas where there has been a run on
fuel are very isolated areas and we don't quite have

(03:12):
the same topography or isolations such as Carnaverine and Geralton.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Okay, half of the oil, half of the fuel that
we have is apparently still on the water. How sure
are you those ships are not going to get diverted?

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, you ask a damn good question. We rely on
the quality of the contracts, the enforceability of the contracts
with the oil companies. Are going to remind everyone on
your program, the oil companies move new Zealand to a
just in time model and the Labor government approved of
the closure of the refinery. That's why we are where

(03:46):
we are. There's three hundred and fifty million liters of
spare storage capacity that was closed down when the refinery
was decommissioned, and keys are going to wake up here
when we have these challenges of resilience and these decisions
that were made and some sort of gratification of New
Zealand's climate ideology. These are the costs that we didn't

(04:07):
see coming, although Winston and I argued against it in
the past.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Shane Listen, thanks very much for your time as a well.
Shane Jones, Associate Energy Minister in charge of Fuel Security.
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