Do you have a right to know if your petrol is refined from Russian oil?
Friday, 12 December 2025
The country’s big petrol companies are refusing to say whether they believe Kiwi drivers have a right to know whether their fuel is likely to have been refined from Russian oil.
ACT Party MP Laura McClure, a member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select committee, put pressure on the importers — Z Energy, BP, Mobil, Gull and Timaru Oil Services — to provide that information, saying she would expect to be told.
But Victoria Hallum, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat), described the situation surrounding Russian fuel as “complicated”, appearing to suggest New Zealand did not in practice have full autonomy over the origin of its fuel.
One News originally reported last month that Z Energy had imported an estimated $100 million worth of fuel refined in India from Russian crude during the past year.
Z confirmed receiving three shipments of fuel from India’s Jamnagar refinery, which has been a major processor of Russian crude.
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The Russian Sanctions Act prohibits importing “directly or indirectly, a coal, oil or gas product of Russian origin into New Zealand”.
But Mfat issued a guidance note in October 2022 that gave carte blanche to such oil products, so long as they were refined outside of Russia. It has not so far explained how it arrived at the guidance.
Responding to questions from McClure at a hearing held by the Foreign Affairs and Defence select committee, Hallum insisted — despite its guidance — that New Zealand had “a very comprehensive set of sanctions in response to the Russian aggression”.
Hallum noted that, in July, the EU banned imports of refined products made from Russian oil and said Mfat was “looking at that”.
But she appeared to indicate there might be difficulties in New Zealand following the EU’s lead, referring to what she described as a “complicated situation”.
“We’re talking closely to our Australian partners, because in many ways New Zealand and Australia operate as one sort of common destination for oil exports,” she said.
It is understood Z’s imports of refined fuel from India were ordered by its Australian owner, Ampol.
“The good news, though, is that we think this is a relatively minor problem,” Hallum said.
“A large amount of our oil comes from Korea and we understand that this issue isn’t a significant issue for oil that’s being refined in Korea.
“So we’re talking about a very small component, but it’s something we’re actively considering and trying to come up with an assessment of,” she said.
McClure said she personally “wouldn’t expect Russian oil to be at my station’s pump without my knowledge”.
“I think that there’s also a presumption from New Zealanders that it wouldn’t be, because we have the sanctions bill in place.
“The coalition has supported sanctions on Russian oil because we stand with Ukraine as a fellow democracy, and we should make sure those sanctions are as effective as intended. I understand the Government is inquiring into this matter, so I look forward to seeing the outcome soon,” she said.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has so far deferred all comment to Mfat, but his office has confirmed a review is taking place.
Mobil appears to remain one option for motorists who want to avoid supporting Russia’s war effort through fuel purchases.
Before clamming up, it had for the past year imported all its fuel from a refinery it owns in Singapore that did not process Russian oil.
However, Mobil, along with Z Energy, BP, Gull and Timaru Oil Services have not responded to further, more detailed questions.
The questions the 5 fuel firms have declined to answer or ignored
1. Whether they believe their customers have a right to know whether the fuel they buy is likely to have been refined from Russian oil.
2. What if any steps they are currently taking to reduce that possibility.
3. Whether it is likely that any fuel they have supplied to customers has been refined from Russian oil since the regulations regarding fuel imports that were imposed under the Russian Sanctions Act regulations took effect.
4. If any fuel they currently sell has been refined from Russian oil.
5. Whether they would support a change to the sanctions regime guidance that made clear importing fuel that had been refined from Russian oil, even if refined outside of Russia, was a breach of the Russian Sanctions Act.
6. Whether they thought any caveats would be required; for example, allowing accidental imports of co-mingled fuel if there was no negligence.