Shane Jones: Associate Energy Minister on the Government's new Fuel Security Plan

Shane Jones says the Government's new Fuel Security Plan will ensure there's a reliable source of fuel in case of global or domestic disruption. 

The plan focuses on four key areas centred around resilience against supply shocks. 

Fuel importers will be required to hold minimum levels of diesel and jet fuel, and the Government will support domestic fuel alternatives. 

Jones, the Associate Minister of Energy, told Mike Hosking it's vital people and businesses can continue to access fuel, no matter what challenges the future brings. 

He says there needs to be a plan to ration and move the economy forward in case there's a big geopolitical event. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fuel Security Plan. The idea is we build medium to
long term resilience and reduced dependency on global markets. So
we're supporting domestic fuel alternatives, investing in critical infrastructure and
stockpiling national reserves. That is this morning's news. Shane Jones
is of course the Associate Energy Minister and is with us.
Good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hey morning folks.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Now what are we actually doing things as of today
or just announcing this?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
No, since the refinery closed down, we've shifted the focus
away from the Middle East. We draw our refined fuel
from Asia. There's always going to be some geopolitical uncertainty
up there. So we've introduced twenty eight days storage obligations
for petrol, twenty one days for diesel, I think twenty
four days for aviation fuel and expanded those obligations on

(00:46):
the oil companies who so briefully sold the refinery.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Indeed, the critical infrastructure that we talk of, is that
needing to be built or have we got enough of
it to do all the storage?

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, this is about one hundred and eighty million leaders
worth a capacity up there at Marsden Point and around
a Mount Monganui and other places in the South Island.
But the bottom line is you need a plan in
the event that there's some geopolitical, egregious event, how do
you ration and over time, how do you move your
economy onto other sources of fuel. Now I'm not really

(01:23):
a doubting Thomas, but I've yet to see this bio
energy thing make commercial sense. Yes, in the face of
cheaper alternatives.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Well, I was going to what's a domestic fuel alternative?
What is that?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, if you listen to in New Zealand, they want
to create a new type of aviation fuel that blends
bio energy into the aviation fuel and possibly do that
at Marsden Point. Marsden Point will never deliver that potential
unless it's going to bespoke planning process like a special
economic zone. But that's a discussion for another day.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, how real is that? Because you've been going on
about Marsden for ages and didn't we look at Marsden
to decide where it's just as much as we would
like to, we just count afford it.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
I mean, the bottom line was I was told it
could cost up to four to six billion dollars to
recapitalize it. Well, a lot of luddite. There's no way
that the crown has got that sort of dough. So
we work with the board up there and the CEO.
I mean the board's led by a chap called James Millar,
I'd say, one of the brightest commercial leaders in New Zealand,
and he's come up with a plan. It may or

(02:24):
may not one day involve the American military using those
facilities as well as they spread their risk management plan
around the Pacific. Obviously, the actual morphport has tremendous capacity
to import more fuel. But the bottom line is this
proposal enables us to store more and ensure that New
Zealand focuses on the vulnerabilities. It's not the most colorful

(02:47):
news of the day, certainly doesn't match my Maori relations
sort of loss in a snoop dog moment in their
own party, but it's stuff that keeps the economy going.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Have you just announed it's the American military are going
to set up a base here and un nuclear submarines coming.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
I really think, mate, that we've got a brilliant port.
We're going to have a dry dock facility, We're expanding
north Port and I've always been a supporter to involve
the American military in regarding New Zealand as a great
place for storage purposes and one day perhaps even to
use our dry dock facility. It's well I campaigned on

(03:28):
that in twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Okay, by the way, business Desk grand a story yesterday.
Less than ten percent your provincial growth fund less than
ten percent has been repaid. Is that a story or
not a story?

Speaker 2 (03:41):
No, A lot of the debt that was entered into
I mean quite a b a fabit of the debt
has been paid back of large amounts. However, a lot
of this debt was spread over a long period of time.
And it's like any sort of blending institution, you have
a few that are difficult to manage, and the others
just carry on and they pay their way going forward.
And often the PGF chose areas where the private sector

(04:05):
was never going to do, such as recapitalizing water storage
and parts of New Zealand that the market just can't
find a commercial solution to. Look, it's always going to
be used where they should the crown have had to go.
Should it make take a risk, It section some work
and some dope work.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Nice doctor has always Shane Jones, Associate Energy Minister. For
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