Iran war: Shane Jones strikes $21m deal for extra diesel storage, told tanks will be ready in two months

Thursday, 2 April 2026

The Government will pay Channel Infrastructure, the owner of the former Marsden Point oil refinery, $21.6 million to convert some of its storage tanks so they can hold an emergency supply of diesel, Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones has announced.

Jones said the tanks would be able to hold 90 million litres of fuel which would be equivalent to about eight days’ national diesel demand.

Channel Infrastructure had assured the Government the extra storage would be ready within two months, he said. The company had previously indicated in a statement that it couldn’t commit to that timeline and that conversion might take “several months”.

The deal paves the way for the Government to seek to convert options it has to buy fuel from overseas under a fuel security framework administered by the International Energy Agency into additional fuel that could be shipped to Marsden Point.

Read more:

• Iran war: Marsden Point owner can’t commit to Shane Jones’ ‘late May’ goal for extra fuel storage

• Iran war: A week’s worth of fuel stock includes dregs at bottom of tanks

The funding for the extra storage will be provided from the Regional Infrastructure Fund.

Jones said it was “an ambitious but do-able project which will help ensure New Zealand is well-placed to weather the fuel supply issues”.

“While we are acutely aware of the importance of petrol and jet fuel, it is diesel that is the lifeblood of our economy,” he said.

“We know we have a secure supply until the end of May. If the opportunities arise for New Zealand to secure diesel supplies over and above what we are expecting, we need to be able to store it.”