‘We’re ready to act’: NZ is preparing for fuel disruption, says Nicola Willis

Wednesday, 18 March 2026

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says ministers are meeting daily to discuss how the conflict in the Middle East will affect New Zealand.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says while New Zealand has 50 days’ worth of fuel in ships that are safely arriving here, the Government is working with petrol companies in the event that Asian oil refineries don’t have enough oil to be producing at the normal volumes.

Speaking to RNZ alongside Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni on Wednesday morning, Willis said Asia supply chain issues could cause disruption here, so the Government was working to make sure fuel companies had a range of alternatives available.

Much of New Zealand’s oil imports were refined products that had been processed from crude shipped out of the Middle East, and other places, and processed into usable products before being transported to Aotearoa.

The war in Iran had led to a chokehold on the global oil supply, with Iran effectively blockading the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20% of the world’s crude supply was shipped daily.

Willis said on Wednesday the Government was working with the fuel companies to avoid any shortage, and said any disruption was still weeks away.

“Well, that's information that we'd expect to get in the next, 3 weeks or so, but we're working really closely with fuel companies so that any signs they're getting like that we get very early warning and we're ready to act,” Willis said.

Passage through the Strait of Hormuz remains perilous. This tanker is seen on fire following an attack.

She said while things like working from home can help, and workers can have discussions with their employers about that, it wasn’t a reality for large parts of New Zealand.

“And many Kiwis have jobs that require them to be in the office, or they have shift work, that means that public transport, isn't a practical option for them,” she said.

“So what we're focusing on is, as this cost of living pressure grows with the events in the Middle East, who's gonna be affected most by that?”

As the conflict in Iran effectively closes the Strait of Hormuz, New Zealanders are feeling the burn at the pump. Acting PM David Seymour says while no formal request for military aid has been made by the US, the Cabinet isn't ruling it out.

“Who's gonna be really getting, the toughest squeeze, and what would be a way of targeting appropriate support to those households in a way that doesn't exacerbate inflation, or dig us into a hole.”

After reports of drivers filling petrol cans with fuel at Gull stations over the weekend, a graphic shared on social media on Monday purported to show that multiple Auckland sites owned by the discount retailer had sold out of some fuels, or were closed altogether.

Stuff asked Gull on Tuesday about the graphic but it did not directly confirm sellouts or closures, instead referring us to part of Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ press conference on Monday.

They said it was “important for Stuff readers to be given the context that there is plenty of fuel around”.

At that conference, called to offer an update on the Government’s response to the issue, Willis was asked for her message to motorists who might be panic buying.

She said: “We know there's enough fuel in the country right now, and that we're not going to run out anytime soon. And look, I understand why people were flocking to Gull, which is, people are shopping around for a bargain. I can hardly blame them for that.”