Fuel-leak flight cancellations end
Nine days of major disruption at Auckland Airport have ended, with no flights having to be cancelled yesterday for a lack of fuel.
Jet fuel has been rationed at the airport since a pipeline operated by Refining NZ ruptured on September 14.
Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins said the first batch of 91 petrol was due to flow through the repaired pipeline tomorrow, marking a ‘‘significant milestone on the path back to normal supply’’.
However, ‘‘some minor disruptions’’ were still likely at the airport and more fuel trucks than usual were likely to be on the roads for another seven to 10 days.
‘‘It is important to recognise that it will take time for fuel stocks in Auckland to be replenished,’’ Collins said.
The 170-kilometre pipeline supplies Auckland with petrol, diesel and jet fuel from Refining NZ’s Marsden Point oil refinery.
Refining NZ has said it will operate the pipeline at a lower pressure setting until the end of year – after upping it in August – as a precaution against another rupture.
That will have the effect of reducing the volume of fuel the pipeline will be able to deliver. Collins has yet to say whether the Defence Force will pass on any costs it incurred providing assistance during the fuel crisis to Refining NZ or its customers Mobil Oil, BP and Z Energy – or whether it would charge them any fees for that help.
That assistance included the services of the tanker HMNZS Endeavour, which was used to ship fuel from the Marsden Point refinery to Auckland.
A spokeswoman for Collins said on Monday that it was ‘‘too early’’ to comment on that.
While ‘‘great progress’’ had been made with a return to ‘‘largely business as usual’’, the Government remained on standby to ‘‘scale up its current assistance if required’’, Collins said.
Refining NZ has revised down the likely overall financial impact of the pipeline break on its own business to between $9 million and $11m.
That was down from an initial estimate of $10m to $15m, which did not factor in the cost of repairs.
An announcment to the New Zealand stock exchange did not mention any component for Defence Force reimbursements.
‘‘The company has insurance cover for business interruption, property and environmental damage,’’ it said.
‘‘However, given the limited extent of the currently expected losses and the excesses that apply to these policies, only a limited amount of the losses is expected to be recovered.’’
Refining NZ’s shares closed at $2.54 yesterday – up 6 cents on the price they were trading at immediately before it announced the seriousness of the pipeline breach.