Scramble to prevent Christmas fuel shortages in South Island

Petrol stations are running out of fuel, and it is unclear if the rolling shortages will be fixed in time for the big Christmas getaway.

Fuel terminals in the South Island, Auckland, Napier and Wellington have lower stocks that usual, because of the sustained warm, dry weather and ongoing issues with the leaking Northland pipeline that had to be shut in September.

For the past week, motorists have reported having problems buying petrol and diesel at fuel stations across the country.

In response to frustrated customers posting on Facebook, Z Energy said there would be rolling shortages of diesel and 95-octane over the next couple of weeks. It is unclear how many petrol stations are affected.

‘‘New Zealand has plenty of stocks, they’re just not in all the right places,’’ the company said on Facebook. ‘‘The combination of higher-than-usual seasonal demand, a temporary shutdown at the [Marsden Point oil] refinery and the ongoing effects of the [refinery to Auckland] pipeline (RAP) issue from earlier this year, have created a few supply problems.’’

The 170-kilometre pipeline connecting the refinery at Marsden Point to Auckland was shut down for 10 days after a leak was discovered on September 14.

Yesterday, a Z Energy spokeswoman said the company expected most of the short-term outages to stop in time for Christmas.

She emphasised there was no shortage of fuel. ‘‘Rather it has been particularly difficult to get it to where it is needed most’’.

‘‘New Zealand has plenty of stocks, they’re just not in all the right places.’’

Z Energy