Government was investigating Auckland pipeline vulnerability at the time it failed

Friday, 22 September 2017

An image of the damaged section of pipe, supplied by Refining NZ which is racing to fix the pipeline.

The Government was taking a fresh look at the vulnerability of the refinery to Auckland pipeline at the time the pipe failed.

On September 14, Refining New Zealand detected a loss of pressure in the 170 kilometre pipeline which links the Marsden Point Refinery to Auckland.

The single pipeline supplies virtually all fuel to New Zealand's largest city, including aviation fuel to the airport.

On Friday, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) confirmed that officials had been consulting with the industry on the vulnerability of the pipeline.

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'The report is still in draft and has not been finalised or provided to Ministers,' a spokeswoman for MBIE said in an email.

'A draft was circulated to industry for feedback, which was due at the end of August. We have been in the process of considering feedback from industry.

'We will now need to reflect on the current event before considering next steps for the 2017 report.'

Previously the Government was warned about the threat to Auckland's supplies from the pipeline in 2005 and 2012.

The 2012 report saw the industry deliver warning that the market was failing to invest adequately in security of supply and the disruption Auckland Airport would face from a prolonged outage was high.

At a press conference on the ongoing disruption, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment chief executive Carolyn Tremain said she did not believe the organisation was in the position to put the information into the public domain.

'It will be a few weeks before we finalise that report off. We will also take a view as to whether we reopen it and have a look at these events over the course of the last week to see if that would change any of the submissions or any areas that we may wish to focus on.'

On Friday, Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins said she had not seen the report.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw called for the report to be released.

'With the election looming, New Zealanders have a right to see any information detailing how much officials and ministers knew about the vulnerability of this pipeline before it ruptured and caused a fuel crisis.'

The 168 kilometre pipeline – which carries jet fuel, petrol and diesel directly from the oil refinery at Marsden Point in Northland to tanks in Wiri, south Auckland – has been out of action since last Thursday afternoon after it was damaged, apparently by a digger.

Mobil Oil, BP and Z Energy asked airlines to reduce their fuel consumption to 30 per cent of their normal level while Refining NZ repairs the pipeline, which is expected to be completed sometime between midday Sunday and midday Tuesday.