Some service stations could run out of petrol after problems with the oil pipeline near Marsden Point today.
Photo: 123RF
The pipeline was closed for more than 12 hours after an alarm signalled a leak.
It's now believed to have been a false alarm and the pipeline was restarted about 6pm today.
But BP's managing director, Debi Boffa, said the outage, coupled with reduced capacity since an earlier issue in September, was likely to have an ongoing effect.
Speaking on behalf of the pipeline customers, Ms Boffa said any fuel outages at service stations were expected to be intermittent and short lived.
She said she was not aware of any effect on aviation fuel at Auckland Airport.
In September, the pipe burst near Ruakaka causing dozens of flights in and out of Auckland Airport to be cancelled, affecting thousands of travellers. Aviation fuel had to be trucked into Auckland.
The incident today was 8 kilometres from the refinery at Marsden.
The pipeline was re-started after testing failed to find a leak.