WELLINGTON: New Zealand is looking at storing fuel in Malaysia and Singapore, says a senior government minister, as the impacts of the Iran war expose the risks from its limited domestic storage capacity.
“We don’t have surplus storage capacity here. We have options, and officials have explored the capacity for us to store fuel offshore. One of the options we have been advised about is Malaysia and Singapore,” said resources minister Shane Jones.
New Zealand lost a vast portion of its fuel storage capacity when its only refinery at Marsden Point north of Auckland closed in 2022. The area around Singapore and southern Malaysia is a major fuel refining and storage hub for Asia.
The outbreak of the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pressured Asia as the region relies heavily on oil and gas from the Middle East.
That’s set off a scramble among nations to lock up supplies and seek assurances of steady supplies.
Last month, the New Zealand government contracted Channel Infrastructure NZ Ltd, which operates a fuel import terminal at the former refinery site, to recommission tanks for diesel storage.
It also announced a deal last week with Z Energy – a unit of Australian fuel company Ampol Ltd – to secure an additional nine days of diesel supply. It’s assessing whether additional jet fuel supplies may be needed. — Bloomberg
