Why NZ's future fuel shipments are a secret

Wednesday, 15 April 2026

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the coalition has been as up front as possible about fuel stocks and supply chain issues as he seeks to allay concerns about a pending shortage.

Fuel importers provide forward cargo plans and detailed shipping information of future fuel shipments to the Government, but it’s supplied confidentially - frustrating some who are calling for more transparency.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) latest fuel stocks update - released today but showing stocks as of April 12 - showed a reduction in all fuel types.

MBIE said although this was the second consecutive update with drops in total fuel stock, the changes did not raise any immediate concerns.

It reported the departure of one small shipment had been delayed due to some countries closing their export facilities and more vessels using Singapore as their primary loading hub - leading to congestion and delays.

“Fuel companies have confirmed that supply chains continue to operate, although these types of delays are likely to become more common,” the MBIE update said.

The Taxpayers’ Union says MBIE is publishing fuel supply data that’s nearly a week out of date, accusing the government of leaving the public in the dark. The detail of future fuel stocks - essentially anything not currently en route - is considered commercially sensitive, which the union says is unacceptable.

The Union said information about fuel stocks should be being fed to MBIE in real time and shared with the public daily.

But on Wednesday Luxon said he stood by the Government’s sharing of data.

“We've had very good engagement with the fuel importing companies right from day one and they are sharing a lot of commercially sensitive information to us that's giving us a very good visibility over the picture.

“We have very good confidence from our fuel companies that they have confirmed orders in place until the end of May and they actually have planned orders in place…well into June and that's giving us confidence that actually we see no risk of future fuel disruption.”

Luxon said the Ministerial Economic Security and Supply Chains Group was meeting with officials at 7.30am daily, with an extra meeting on Wednesday evenings, to consider any change to the fuel plan.

“We’re trying to communicate with you as much information as dynamically and as quickly as we can. If there was a serious change to any situation, rest assured we're available every day and we're making sure we get that information through to you.

“For now, I want to continue to reassure New Zealanders that we have fuel supply, we are very confident about that at this point in time, but we also are being prudent and responsible to put ourselves and our heads in the game to imagine a scenario where this crisis does not get resolved, a ceasefire does not hold, conflict continues on and we actually do get a disruption down the road.'

MBIE’s general manager of data, insights and intelligence Jacqui Ellis told The Post three weeks was a good estimate of the duration of any journey from the jurisdictions that supply New Zealand’s fuel importers.

She said the information fuel importers were providing included forward cargo plans and detailed shipping information outside these timeframes, giving the Government a system-wide view of planned fuel supplies.

“This information is shared with us in confidence by fuel companies to support government decision‑making. It is provided on the understanding it will be kept confidential.

“As forward import and shipping schedules are inherently fluid – cargo source, choice of vessel, weather, port congestion, and loading/unloading rates can affect timings – we only publish data about shipments which are confirmed and en route to New Zealand. This reflects normal supply chain functioning as the fuel companies optimise their supply into New Zealand.”

There were more ships expected in May that would be reflected in MBIE's published figures as they left port, Ellis said.

The next fuel update will land on the afternoon of Monday, April 20.