Tensions at the petrol pump over ‘unfair’ bulk buying, Kiwis say some stations running dry

Friday, 13 March 2026

Senior political correspondent Jenna Lynch explores the local fallout of the US-Israel-Iran war. With global oil supplies under threat, New Zealand is releasing emergency reserves while the Prime Minister refuses to rule out carless days.

Despite being told not to panic, some Kiwis appear to be rushing to their local petrol stations for fuel, amid rising prices and growing pressure on national stocks.

With the war in the Middle East rolling on, and global oil supply choked by attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, some petrol stations in Aotearoa found themselves out of fuel on Thursday night - with at least one site witnessing bulk buying labelled as “unfair” by one customer.

There were multiple reports on social media of Gull petrol stations running out of fuel late on Thursday, the day each week the chain offered a discount. Fresh deliveries were expected on Friday.

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A spokesperson for Finance Minister Nicola Willis confirmed they had been in contact with Gull about the reported shortages, and were advised they “were a result of strong demand in response to the discounts it offered”.

“Gull confirmed it does not have any issues with incoming supply,” they said.

Bulk-buying ‘unfair’, making others wait

Cheryl Southorn said the fuel was still flowing when she visited the unmanned Gull at Whakamārama in the Bay of Plenty, but said she had seen some “unfair” purchases when there. She said she saw a van filling up multiple large containers, causing a 20-minute wait for other customers.

“The printed receipts were about half a metre long dangled in the breeze,” she said, telling Stuff she believed this sort of bulk buying was “unfair”, and urging Kiwis to “show some consideration”.

“If we have this sort of greed at unmanned sites through the country how long will supplies last?” she asked.

Stuff called manned Gull stations around the motu on Friday morning and many reported unusually high demand.

Steve Morrison at Gull Paeroa said there had been heavy demand, but fuel had “just” kept flowing.

He said that our current “uncertain times” had led to people bulk buying, but much of that was farmers buying bulk diesel which was not unusual.

Damian Fletcher at Gull Tairua said their supplies were running low and a truck was due on Friday morning.

He said people were stocking up, not panic buying, and was straightforward about the demand.

“We'll cope,” he told Stuff. “I don't think anyone's going to be rushing to buy it at this price.”

A spokesperson for Gull said the service stations were doing their best to meet demand.

Air New Zealand’s fuel bill has skyrocketed from $4 million to $7.5 million a day since the conflict in Iran began. CEO Nikhil Ravishankar calls the move to cut 1100 flights a temporary measure to manage 'extreme volatility'.

“We had a very busy day yesterday with a 14cpl [cents per litre] Gull Discount Day, and Gull App users also get an additional 6cpl as well.

“The carriers are doing their best to resupply sites for everyone in the retail fuel industry.”

Stuff approached the other major fuel chains for comment, and Z Energy responded, saying they had noticed increased demand but there was no overall shortage.

“Z Energy (Z) is closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East. At this stage, the impacts on Z’s ability to supply our customers remain minimal,” a spokesperson said.

They said Z will “continue to monitor actively the developments in global markets and assess their implications”.

A BP spokesperson said they were closely monitoring the situation and were currently not experiencing any significant disruption to supply.

Tasman Fuels in Epsom saw long queues on Thursday, but when the price of 91 rose 14c on Friday, the station was nearly empty when Stuff visited.

Rush on jerry cans

All that stockpiled fuel has to go somewhere, and reports are coming in of jerry cans flying off the shelf.

Jerry cans were running low at Repco Marshlands in Christchurch on Friday morning and customers were restricted to buying two at a time.

Multiple Repco stores have had to limit customers to buying only two, and their North Shore branch told Stuff this morning they were out of 10L containers, with stores across the country running low on stock.

Queues at petrol stations came despite the Government telling New Zealanders not to panic over our fuel stocks.

We were told earlier this week that New Zealand had about a 58-day supply of petrol, 50 days of diesel, and 47 days of jet fuel.

“New Zealanders should be reassured that we are monitoring this very, very closely. When we receive information, we will share that information,” Associate Minister for Energy Shane Jones said, after the first meeting of the Ministerial Economic Security and Supply Chains Group.

“If circumstances change, we will swiftly notify the public. There is no need for panic or over-reaction.”