Auckland's fuel crisis a reflection of National Party crony capitalism, corruption and deregulation

This is a crisis of unprecedented proportions for Auckland which relies for its supply of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel on ONE pipeline that has been damaged by an operation digging out swamp Kauri in Northland.

This is also days out from a national election.

It looks as if it COULD be a firm linked to a sitting National MP, Judith Collins and ex-PM Jenny Shipley.

There is history behind this.

Apart from revealing the nature of supply lines and the ease with which they are disrupted with terrible consequences it is an illustration where neo-liberal policies and dergulation, together with corruption and crony capitalism lead us.

I sent the following Facebook item to Martyn Bradbury of the Daily Blog for his comments.

Kauri company in Ruakaka: KAURI RUAKAKA LTD

Previous Names: ORAVIDA KAURI

Chairman of Board: Jenny Shipley

Director: David Wong Tung

His reply was -

Yes - I understand it's true but the weak regulation meant councils didn't need to be notified - we don't know if it was them.

Why the Auckland oil pipeline rupturing is the perfect symbolism of 9 years under National

the Daily Blog,

19 September, 2017

It’s a god damned Greek tragedy in 3 parts, it really is.

It’s a Schadenfreude Dégustation of such epic proportions it deserves its own documentary.

The story of how Kauri poachers damaged the only oil line into Auckland sums up the last 9 years of the National Government so perfectly and has dropped it hot into the lap of the voting public days before the impact of Auckland running dry of petrol will arrive with the election.

We don’t know who damaged the oil line because the piss poor regulation National imposed on the buried Kauri tree poaching industry means they don’t have to get consent from the local council so we may never know who did this.

We all hope it’s Judith Collin’s husband’s Oravida company because as the Minister of Energy and personally benefitting from exploitative Chinese business practices it would be the cherry on the top of this shit cake of crony nepotism that perfectly encompasses National Party and Chinese business interests.

So let’s get the full stop of this clusterfuck shall we?

Some company exploiting the loopholes in National’s weak regulation wreaks the only bloody oil line running into Auckland, an oil pipe line that the Government was warned was vulnerable.

The Government’s response to critical underfunding of infrastructure despite turning on the immigration? To do sweet fuck all nothing of course. The Plan National put forward in case of an emergency was hope the people of Auckland wouldn’t start stockpiling.

FFS. That’s not a plan, that’s wishful fucking thinking.

Regulation demands the oil industry keeps 8 days stockpile of petrol in case of an emergency. We have an emergency. The only pipeline providing Auckland with petrol has been damaged and out of action for at least 10 days. How many believe the oil industry kept their side of the bargain and have 8 days worth of stockpile? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just keep 7 days? 6 days? 5 days? Once Aucklanders realise the city is about to go dry there will be panic buying for the remaining petrol.

I don’t think people get how big a deal this could be and if Auckland runs dry before the election, it will be Bill English facing the wrath of the entire city of Auckland.

Here some historical background - our wonderful kauri trees being harvested and sent off to China by crony capitalists directly linked to the National government. 

National Party donors allegedly involved in illegal kauri exports

1 July, 2015

Oppostion MPs have used parliamentary privilege to link the exporting of swamp kauri in Northland to National Party donors and insiders.

Concerns have been raised in Northland that kauri logs are being exported illegally - with stumps being labelled as finished products and sent offshore.

Northland MP Winston Peters says that is a rort, but the Government rejects the claims....

These are the events as of yesterday as reported by the NZ Herald

Airport fuel crisis: Kauri log digger damaged oil pipeline

NZ Herald,

18 September, 2017

An initial investigation by the Marsden Point oil refinery has found a digger driver searching for swamp kauri caused the critical damage to the fuel pipeline months ago.

When the pipeline burst on Thursday, the response has included finding out how the damage had been caused.

A source familiar with the situation said refinery bosses had found a swamp kauri hunter had been working in the same area as the damaged pipe around three months earlier.

In his efforts to remove a log 20 metres long and one metre wide, the digger struck the fuel line.

It did not rupture but laid the seed for the failure that would follow.

While the route of the pipeline is clearly marked with warning signs, the source said that the signs closest to where the pipeline ruptured where overgrown and could not be clearly seen.

The digger driver moved on and months passed until Thursday, when refinery bosses increased the pressure in the pipeline which forces fuel to Auckland.

The increase in pressure was too much for the damaged pipeline and it ruptured, spewing fuel into a peat swamp.

Refining NZ spokesman Greg McNeill said that the pipeline burst on Thursday as a result of "external damage" in a peat swamp.

He could not confirm the cause of when the damage happened but said excavation teams had found kauri near the pipe.

"There was swamp kauri on the site, in our excavation we have come across pieces of it," he said.

"The team can see that there is quite a series of scrapes across the top of the pipe. What actually led to that I don't know."

Swamp kauri extraction is controlled by local councils.

Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai said she had not been briefed on the Ruakaka work but would be asking questions.

"It's a very serious event that has happened in our district. The Refining Company is the lifeline for all of our fuel and clearly this is a major disruption, so I will be asking some questions of our staff to clarify what should have happened and what went wrong."

A review of NZ oil security for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment recognised in 2012 that any cut in the oil pipeline would mean "no jet supply to Auckland Airport".

"In the short term there are few alternatives for jet supply into Auckland," the report said citing options like diverting flights to other airports - here or overseas - for refuelling before landing in Auckland.

The report considered options including duplicating the pipeline's Auckland terminal at Wiri, but said that would cost more than $10 million a year and the probability of a short-term disruption to the pipeline was put at only 0.5 to 1 per cent a year, or once every 100 to 200 years.

This is Oravida's unmarked/secret sawmill at Ruakaka. It's 2km from the pipe rupture

Meanwhile, the crisis is rapidly deteriorating just days out from a general election

Thirteen Z petrol stations now out of 95

NZ Herald,

19 September, 2017

Thirteen Z Energy service stations are out of 95 octane petrol as a result of the ruptured Marsden Pt fuel pipeline, the company says.

This morning just four Z stations were out of the premium fuel, but this afternoon it said that number had more than tripled.

Z Energy has been prioritising trucking 91 octane and diesel from its plants elsewhere in the country as these are used by the majority of motorists.

"As a result of this deliberate focus, a few service stations have run out 95 octane petrol. However, all grades of fuel are being trucked into the city and sites will be replenished soon," the company said in a statement.

At this stage, only Z service stations have reported running out of fuel as a result of the incident, which has been causing havoc in the aviation industry with scores of flights in and out of Auckland Airport cancelled, delayed or diverted.

Auckland Caltex stations, which are operated as franchises owned by Z, do not appear to be affected by the shortage at this stage. The 12 stations contacted by the Herald said they were all adequately stocked with 95, however, the St Heliers station did not receive its 95 delivery today but this was due to arrive tomorrow. A staff member said it would likely run out of 95 otherwise.

BP spokeswoman Leigh Taylor said the company continued to have all grades of fuel available.

She said if there were to be any shortages they would be "intermittent and short-lived".

BP was bringing in fuel to Auckland from other parts of the country.

Mobil Oil New Zealand managing director Andrew McNaught said it did not have any supply issues or stock outages for ground fuel in the Auckland region