Luxon in Singapore: Fuel fix and a bigger strategic play
Monday, 4 May 2026
Singapore | Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will begin a round of meetings in Singapore today aimed at cementing the bilateral relationship while also ticking off the all-important Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies (AOTES) — colloquially known as a “food-for-fuel” deal.
Singapore alone supplies about 30% of New Zealand’s refined fuel, giving the trip an immediate practical and political edge alongside its broader diplomatic aims.
Luxon, who landed in Singapore on Sunday night NZT, is being joined by Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay, alongside a 30-strong delegation of CEOs, board chairs and company directors for the first Singapore–New Zealand Leadership Dialogue.
The size and seniority of the business contingent underlines the extent to which this is as much a serious NZ Inc commercial mission as a political one.
Willis and Luxon will meet with global fuel executives who sell into New Zealand, as well as major energy players such as Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil — firms that shape the global fuel market whether or not they are direct suppliers to New Zealand.
Read more:
The old friendship with Singapore that could keep New Zealand’s fuel flowing
Australia ‘catching up’ on securing fuel through Singapore - Luxon
The AOTES deal — effectively in place since October but not yet formally signed — commits both governments not to apply export restrictions to essential goods. In practice, that means New Zealand should continue to receive fuel in a crisis, while Singapore would be able to rely on New Zealand for food and other key supplies.
It is a simple arrangement on paper, but one that reflects a deeper logic: the complementary nature of the two economies. Singapore is a global refining, storage and trading hub with limited domestic resources, while New Zealand is a major food producer with heavy reliance on imported fuel.
Willis’ presence reflects both the inaugural leadership forum and her role as lead minister on the Government’s fuel response — a domestic political pressure point that has sharpened the focus on the trip.
The visit also comes at a time when relationships in Southeast Asia have been an unambiguous success for the Coalition Government. Over a period in which the United States has appeared less reliable and China more challenging to New Zealand’s interests, both Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have invested heavily in the region, with frequent visits and a clear strategic emphasis.
While the fuel situation gives the visit added urgency — and a useful hook back home — it also serves as something of a capstone on a closer relationship with Singapore, which was upgraded to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in October last year.
“We also made a commitment to put in place this essential supplies treaty between our two countries,” Luxon told The Post.
“Essentially, what that means is that in a time of crisis, New Zealand would get supplies of fuel, pharmaceuticals and some construction products. Equally, Singapore would get food from New Zealand.
“And you've seen other countries like Australia try to create a similar agreement in recent weeks, but we've already been working in that way.”
Luxon described the agreement as “quite world-leading”, arguing that it leverages the strengths of both economies.
“But beyond that, Singapore is a strong historical partner. It’s our most important partner in Southeast Asia,” he said.
As well as being a dynamic — and characteristically humid — regional hub, Singapore is New Zealand’s fourth-largest trading partner and a significant source of foreign direct investment. Two-way trade is worth about $11 billion annually, spanning goods, services and capital flows.
It is also an economy likely to grow in importance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Long Term Insights Briefing in 2025 pointed explicitly to the potential for expanding New Zealand’s Single Economic Market model with Australia to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), particularly Singapore.
For Willis, strengthening ties with Singapore is central to her longer-term economic strategy, not just a response to immediate fuel concerns.
“My observation would be that as the world becomes more fragmented, volatile and contested, we have a lot to gain from strengthening relationships with countries like Singapore,” she told The Post.
“We already have a strong record of shaping high-quality agreements and being a force for practical cooperation in the ASEAN region.
“There’s a real opportunity to build on that … moving over time towards something closer to what we have with Australia — ensuring we are closer, stronger, and working in a more joined-up way wherever it makes sense.”
That longer-term framing sits alongside a much more immediate political reality: the focus back in New Zealand on fuel supply and price stability.
Willis said she and Luxon would be meeting with a range of major global fuel firms — not all of which currently supply New Zealand directly.
“The latest that I had heard is that we can expect engagement with representatives from Shell, ExxonMobil, Vitol and Saudi Aramco,” she said.
“Some of those entities are not ones we directly import from, but they have valuable insights into what’s happening in the global fuel market, and that’s a useful way to test the information we’re hearing from our own importers.”
She noted that Singapore’s status as Southeast Asia’s largest refining, blending, storage and trading hub made it a natural place to have those conversations.
“It’s a really good opportunity to meet senior representatives face to face and gain insight,” she said.
The broader backdrop to the trip is the shifting geopolitical environment — a world in which countries like New Zealand, long advocates of a rules-based international order, are also having to think more pragmatically about resilience and partnerships.
Indeed, Luxon sought to downplay the fuel aspect of the visit as something of greater domestic political resonance than diplomatic significance, arguing that the real purpose lay in strengthening both government and business ties and ensuring the new leadership dialogue gets off to a strong start.
“In world affairs at the moment, we are moving — in its simplest form — from a multilateral world with rules that meant whether you’re a small, medium or large country, you were treated the same, to a more multipolar world where power dominates,” he said.
“That creates anxiety for people — understandably so. But we have been here before as a world. You know: 1918; 1945; 1989.
“And I think in 2026 we’re at another inflection point, and the new global order hasn’t yet been fully defined.”
In that context, building deeper ties with a like-minded, highly connected economy such as Singapore has taken on an added significance — both as a hedge against uncertainty and as a platform for future growth.
Amelia Linzey, chief executive of engineering and consulting firm Beca, is co-convening the leadership dialogue alongside a broad cross-section of senior New Zealand business leaders — a sign that, for all the focus on fuel, this trip is ultimately about something much bigger: positioning New Zealand in a more uncertain, more competitive world.