Fuel companies say yesterday's shutdown of the Marsden Point to Auckland fuel pipeline is likely to impact fuel supplies.
Refining New Zealand closed the pipeline at 5.15am yesterday following an alarm from the pipeline monitoring system.
Staff carried out tests using leak detection software, the pipeline was found to be fit for service, and it was restarted last evening.
Customers of Refining NZ say while the outage was short-lived, there is likely to be some level of impact on ongoing fuel supplies.
In September, the pipeline was ruptured by a digger on farmland at Ruakaka in Northland and had to be closed for repairs, disrupting fuel supplies for a week and causing massive disruption to flights in and out of Auckland Airport. Fuel was delivered from Northland by trucks and a navy ship.
Following the outage in September, Refining NZ has been operating the pipeline at a reduced capacity to meet pipeline certification requirements, said Debi Boffa, Managing Director of BP Oil New Zealand and spokesperson for Refining NZ customers.
Coupled with yesterday outage the result is lower than usual stock levels at the Wiri terminal which supplies fuel to the industry and Auckland Airport, she said last night.
This comes at a time of high seasonal demand and each fuel company is individually working to put alternative supply arrangements in place to minimise any impact to customers," Ms Boffa said.
If there are any fuel outages at service stations they are expected to be intermittent and short-lived, she said.
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