New Zealand Government releases Auckland Fuel Supply Disruption Inquiry final report

17 September, 2019

New Zealand Government released (17-Sep-2019) its final report into its inquiry into the Auckland Fuel Supply Disruption. The Government stated it is not satisfied with the resilience of the infrastructure making up the supply chain for jet fuel and without investment, the resilience will quickly decrease further, given the forecast demand for jet fuel. Key recommendations include:

  • Auckland Airport updates demand forecasts and shares them with the fuel suppliers, airlines, officials, and other interested parties;
  • Auckland Airport convenes a jet fuel supply coordination forum to share information on capacity constraints and pressure points, demand forecasts, linkages, security of supply, investment plans and takes into account resilience when planning the new joint user hydrant installation;
  • The fuel sector commits to building new infrastructure at or near Auckland Airport;
  • New Zealand Government will begin work immediately to develop and enact new legislation to put in place regulatory options that would enable it to step in should the fuel sector not be able to take into account the public interest in resilience adequately when making investment decisions relating to fuel infrastructure;
  • The Government monitors progress and helps facilitate a solution if possible;
  • If the fuel sector has not been able to make the necessary progress by 30-Jun-2020 by committing to the investment needed to bring infrastructure up to the recommended resilience standards, the Government should take steps to intervene, using the recommended statutory powers. [more - original PR]