Auckland's vulnerability to fuel shortages

Auckland's fuel supply vulnerability is well known, and serious

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Virtually all of Auckland's fuel supply comes from a single ten inch pipe. The vulnerability is well known yet little appears to have been done about it.

Stuff,

17 September, 2017

For years different companies have been warning the government that Auckland has a single point of failure when it comes to getting fuel.

It is as simple as that. A single ten-inch pipe is responsible for getting almost all fuel into New Zealand's largest city, and a large chunk of Waikato's demand as well. Not just aviation fuel - petrol and diesel as well.

On Sunday it emerged that a farmer digging up swamp kauri had damaged the pipeline, and it could be out of action for two weeks.

It is quite possible that motorists will get through without disruption, but this could rely on everyone staying calm.

READ MORE: Fuel shortage at Auckland Airport could last for two weeks

The industry prepares for this type of thing, with war-game like exercises to work out exactly how to keep stations stocked.

Motorists driving between Auckland and Mt Maunganui, and Auckland at Marsden Point, can expect to see a lot more fuel trucks on the road in the coming days.

We can but hope it is enough.

A 2012 report into New Zealand's fuel security identified the risks posed by the fuel pipeline, and warned that if it were taken out of action for nine days, around 17 per cent of normal demand "cannot be met".

The solution the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) came up with?

"This shortfall could be minimised if consumers deferred demand until [pipeline] supply was re-established, for example, by running down their tanks."

That means, asking consumers to respond to shortages by not filling up.

Energy Minister Judith Collins has said she has been advised that it is "unlikely" that motorists would be inconvenienced. A week out from the election, it is safe to assume Prime Minister Bill English will have his fingers crossed.

But even if Auckland motorists manage to muddle through, this will be a massive headache for New Zealand's largest airport.

MBIE's report said a short term disruption to the pipeline could resolved by "flight rationalisation and fuel bunkering".

That is bureaucratic jargon for significant disruption. Air New Zealand responded by accusing MBIE of minimising the downstream implications, including a hit to the country's reputation as a tourism destination.

"If a country's fuel security reputation suffers through fuel outages which significantly affect flights over a period of time, it will receive international publicity and it will cause some agents to recommend other destinations."

Already trans-Tasman flights are being cancelled, and the Air New Zealand submission makes it clear why.

Most of the planes which fly the Tasman cannot carry enough fuel to fly from Sydney to Auckland and back without refuelling in New Zealand. Long haul would face unexpected stopovers in Nadi in Fiji and Sydney.

Chances are, this disruption will be managed without causing a major hit to New Zealand's economy, and little long-term damage to our reputation.

It may even get people to address what would happen if there was a long term hit to the fuel supply into Auckland - the implications for the economy are massive.

National repeatedly talks up its infrastructure spending programme, celebrating every new road of national significance and extension to the ultra fast broadband network.

But apart from a few extra storage tanks, virtually nothing has been done about a well signalled weakness in Auckland's fuel supply.