Business / Energy

Could NZ run out of fuel if Marsden Pt oil refinery is closed?

09:09 am on 5 August 2021

Shareholders in Refining NZ vote tomorrow on a recommendation from company directors to turn Marsden Point into a terminal that only imports processed fuels, ending six decades of the country having its own ability to make petrol and diesel. Australia has just brought in a subsidy to keep its only two surviving refineries open, citing the volatile global supply chain. New Zealand researcher Toby Dalley says New Zealand has been blinkered in the way it has weighed the risks of running out of fuel.He has analysed 15 years of risk assessments done for the government and says the assumptions contained within them are "baffling". Kathryn also speaks with Executive Director of the Sustainability Council, Simon Terry.

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