Source: Radio New Zealand
Several petrol stations ran out of fuel on Thursday and Friday. RNZ / Quin Tauetau
The Automobile Association (AA) is warning against panic buying or stockpiling fuel, saying large quantities may impact house insurance claims.
Several Gull, Foodstuffs, and Tasman Fuels stations ran out of petrol and diesel on Thursday and Friday, as the crisis deepened in the Middle East.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Friday told Morning Report the price increases were extremely tough and affecting all New Zealanders.
Willis said she did not want to see a situation where people could not drive to work, and instructed IRD and Treasury to come up with a package that could be implemented with urgency ahead of the Budget.
AA principal policy adviser Terry Collins told RNZ the government had been “very clear” the country had enough fuel.
“Occasionally you’ll see a service station that runs dry. That’s usually because they’re offering a good deal.”
Changes to consumer demand in response to rising prices meant the usual fuel deliveries were not always able to keep up, he said.
Nicola Willis said she did not want to see a situation where New Zealanders could not drive to work. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
“We’ve had a rush on some of those service stations, they’ve run dry. It doesn’t mean we’re running out of fuel. It just means that that filling up regime has been interrupted.”
It was dangerous to store large quantities of fuel in residential homes – even in jerry cans, Collins said.
“Even though the cans are suitable for it, the danger that occurs is if you’ve got a large quantity and it’s attributed to some damage or a fire, then you may have some insurance problems.”
Insurance providers would not expect people to have large quantities of fuel at their homes, he said.
“It’s ok to have those cans for your chainsaw, your lawnmower, your motorbike or boat … but large quantities of fuel is just not recommended.”
Changes to consumer demand in response to rising prices mean usual fuel deliveries are not always able to keep up. Jimmy Ellingham / RNZ
How to save on fuel
Collins said there were two ways to save at the pump: finding the cheapest fuel, and maximising efficiency.
“We have a fuel standard. It’s nearly all the same. You will never notice the impact between different brands.
“Once you’ve got it, it’s how you use it. So simple tips about anticipating traffic, keeping gaps in front of you with the other cars … make sure your tyre pressure is all correct.”
“And generally, if you’re travelling places, put all your trips together this weekend.”
‘Another nail in the coffin’
Grey Power president Gayle Chambers said she was concerned rising petrol costs could lead to social isolation for older people.
“Many people, they’ll go out for coffee, or go to the likes of Senior Citizens in their car. If the petrol goes up too much more, they’re going to find that they’re going to have to restrict themselves as to where they go and how often they go.
She acknowledged if restrictions were brought in, that would be hard for everyone, but for the elderly it would be “just another nail in the coffin”.
Older people were likely to be worse affected because many were on restricted budgets.
“It makes it pretty hard. It’s mentally hard on people, as well as anything else,” Chambers said.
Chatham Island council held a meeting yesterday to try to come up with a way to soften the blow for the isolated community. Vk2cz / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)
Isolated island communities hit hard
Chatham Island council held a meeting Friday to try to come up with a way to soften the blow for the isolated community which has seen diesel prices jump by more than $1.
Chatham Islands Enterprise Trust chief executive and council interim chief executive Bob Penter said diesel was at $2.29 per litre and petrol at $4.50 per litre before the conflict in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, on Waiheke Island, petrol prices on Friday were sitting close to $4 and the main Waiheke ferry was making some timetable changes to accommodate increasing fuel costs.
Great Barrier Islanders were also expecting access to the mainland will reduce if fuel continues to rise.
Local Board member Izzy Fordham Friday said their prices were slightly more than the rest of Aotearoa. At her local $4.17 a litre for petrol and $3.76 for diesel.
Fuel efficient rail
A rail advocate told RNZ a return to the rail network of the past could help deal with the fuel problems of the future.
The Future is Rail’s Paul Callister said if the country had electrified trains between the major cities, the fuel crisis would be less of a problem.
“We know that rail is very energy efficient, has hardly any emissions – even diesel trains pulling freight trains or passenger trains are very light on the use of fuel.”
Some of the billions of dollars being spent on Roads of National Significance could instead be spent on rail, he added.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
