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We said there wouldn’t be a newsletter this week, but given recent developments, we thought it might be a good idea to provide you with an update on the government’s plan to handle any supply disruptions-
News From The World of Manufacturing
•The good news first – thanks to a proactive approach from fuel companies and the government, fuel stocks in the country (on land and on ships close to land) have actually increased over the past few days. That decreases the risk of a restricted fuel allocation system being required to be activated.
•Should restrictions be necessary, the government has amended the 2024 National Fuel Plan we discussed in last week’s edition. The new Fuel Response Plan 2026, released on March 27, differs from the more generic 2024 version that what was Level 1 (Minor) in the original has been split into two phases where hard restrictions are not yet imposed: Phase 1 – Watchful (current state) and Phase 2 – Precautionary.
The exact wording for the following stages, where restrictions will be imposed, is still “Under Consideration”. Current wording for Phase 3 – Managed suggests the introduction of a cascade of priority entitlements to supply in ‘Bands’, with the hierarchy pretty much following the 2024 Plan. Except and importantly, there now is a new Band D: other commercial customers – this comprises all other commercial and business fuel uses. This is a new provision not included in the 2024 Plan. It recognises the need especially for the general freight sector to be serviced – albeit low down on the pecking order – to minimise disruptions in supply chains.
•The Ministry for Regulation has set up a website where you can submit comments on the government’s Regulatory ideas to respond to the fuel supply situation. Submissions are open for one week only at this stage.
Other news of interest to manufacturers
•Two things in relation to the above worth noting from my current perspective, being on a visit to Germany at the moment:
- While there is a debate in the public domain, and among politicians, about the cost of fuel, and imposing price caps, there is no discussion at all about any supply restrictions. That may have something to do with where the country sources its fuel from:
| Crude Oil | (2025 data) | Refinded Petrolium Products | (2024 data) | ||||
| Rank | Country | Share (%) | Quantity (Approx. Mt) | Country | Primary Products | Import Value (USD) | |
| 1 | Norway | 16.60% | 12.5 | Netherlands | Diesel, Gasoline, Gas Oil | ~$13.2 Billion | |
| 2 | United States | 16.40% | 12.4 | Belgium | Gas Oil, Gasoline | ~$4.7 Billion | |
| 3 | Libya | 13.80% | 10.4 | United States | Jet Fuel, Specialized Oils | ~$2.2 Billion | |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | ~10-12% | – | France | Heating Oil, Diesel | ~$0.7 Billion | |
| 5 | United Kingdom | – | – | Sweden | Specialized Refined Oils | ~$0.5 Billion | |
| 6 | Guyana | – | – | Qatar | Kerosene/Jet Fuel | ~$0.4 Billion | |
| 7 | Iraq | 4.20% | 3.1 | Kuwait | Diesel, Jet Fuel | ~$0.4 Billion | |
| 8 | Nigeria | – | – | Algeria | Naphtha, Refined Components | ~$0.3 Billion | |
| 9 | Canada | – | – | Czech Republic | Diesel, Gasoline | ~$0.3 Billion | |
| 10 | Algeria | – | – | India | Diesel | ~$0.3 Billion |
- Remember that New Zealand gets its refined petroleum products mostly from Asian countries which in turn get most of their crude oil supplies from the Gulf Region:
- The other thing worth noting is that fuel prices at the point of sale have increased a lot less than in New Zealand – LNG is a different story, because a lot of Germany’s supplies used to come from Qatar:
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