Source: Radio New Zealand
A former director at Marsden Point says the country has aligned itself with “MAGA US States” in its pursuit of fossil fuels and rejection of renewable energy sources.
David Keat, who was the refining manager at Marsden Point, told Morning Report the hydrocarbons supply chain was particularly vulnerable to geopolitical upheaval, and New Zealand was the last cab off the rank.
“We know that something could blow up in the South China Sea, who knows what [US President] Donald Trump might do next and so on,” he said.
“So those risks come along fairly regularly. When I used to run things … we used to expect something once a decade, you can never predict it.”
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
He said the country needed to be insulated against such global energy shocks.
Brent crude oil is currently trading at just under $US100 (NZ$170) a barrel, leading to sharp price rises at the country’s pumps.
“If I was running New Zealand we should use this as the impetus to move us to energy self-sufficiency.”
Keat said that had two components; 100 percent renewable electricity generation and slowly electrifying the transport fleet.
“Most other countries in the world outside the MAGA US states are doing that now, at pace. For some reason, New Zealand is going down the 1980s’ path.”
For example, he said South Australia was on track to hit its target of 100 percent renewable electricity generation by 2027.
“As a result their electricity prices have reduced by about 30 percent. Of course we’re looking to go the other way with LNG.”
The Middle East conflict pushing up prices at the pump has sparked bickering between Coalition partners over the refinery’s closure.
Keat said the shut down was a commercial decision based on the company’s bottom-line and not in the interest of New Zealand.
“I would argue if you had your eye on the strategic value of that asset, [it] definitely shouldn’t have been allowed to sell.”
He said the refinery’s closure slashed the country’s options from several sources of crude oil that could be refined, to just a couple of already-refined options.
Keat maintained the current global energy shock should be viewed as a strategic gift by the government.
During debate over the refinery closure this week New Zealand First MP Shane Jones said Labour was at fault because it was wrong to allow the oil refinery to close.
Labour’s leader Chris Hipkins said Jones was being dishonest.
The closure of Marsden Point as a refinery in April 2022 was a business decision, made by its private owners, he said.
ACT Party leader David Seymour is also at odds with his coalition colleague.
He said the cost of refining oil at Marsden Point was more expensive than elsewhere, and the decision to close was a business one.
Keeping the refinery open would have meant hiking fuel tax, with little to no improvement in security of supply, he said.
It came after government ministers met on Wednesday night to discuss the country’s fuel security as the ongoing war in Iran puts pressure on supply.
Currently the country has about 52 days worth of fuel supply either in country or en route.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand