Written By:
- Date published:
6:41 pm, March 27th, 2026 - 24 comments
Categories: Shane Jones, winston peters -
Tags: diesel, disinformation, Marsden Point, nz first
By now, many Kiwis are aware of the facts around the Marsden Point closure.
1. It was a decision by private shareholders, namely BP, Mobil and Z.
2. Labour did not close the refinery – it was a private decision
3. The refinery refined imported oil from the Middle East, which meant even if it was open, it would not help us in the current Iranian-Israeli and US war.
4. It was a relatively small operation and inefficient, seeing rising costs and losses. Any moves to nationalise it would see New Zealand subsidise private multinational oil companies to the tune of billions of dollars.
In 2025, Shane Jones made this point clear when he said New Zealand could not afford the refinery and the costs associated with retaining and re-opening it. At the time it was costed at $6 billion.
In recent weeks, NZ First leader Winston Peters and deputy leader Shane Jones has blanketed social media with disinformation about Marsden Point.
This is par for the course for the party, leading to RNZ and even corporate media Stuff releasing two articles effectively point out that NZF’s assertions amount to out of context disinformation.
In any case, the broader question remains why our government Coalition parties are spending so much time politiking and spreading disinformation about Marsden Point, Labour and Covid.
Isn’t there a fuel and economic crisis at hand?
And also why are NZ First throwing so many stones when they are part of a government which decided to stop NZ’s fuel reserves in 2024?
That cancellation halted the plan to store an extra 70 million litres of reserve diesel, one aspect that would be very useful now, like more EVs for example. (That market tanked after the Coalition cancelled the Clean Car Rebate combined with higher RUCs, leading to less second hand EVs and hybrids on the market and more demand on fuel)
The Beehive release from Minister Shane Jones shows that the Coalition considered diesel fuel reserves too expensive, but apparently they have no issues with blaming Labour for failing to subsidise Marsden Point oil refinery to the tune of billions, despite that it would not have helped with our fuel resilience, and would have been extremely loss making.
Instead, Marsden Point was available to economically boost storage, a viable situation had National, NZ First and ACT had the foresight to invest in diesel reserves.
They want Kiwis to focus on Marsden Point, which would not have helped us now, but want you to look away from the decisions they took that are hurting us now.
Isn’t that just so, Winston?
PS
With all the floods around NZ, wouldn’t it have been good to exercise foresight yet again, but unfortunately the right wing Coalition seem immune to that.
Keep putting out the facts! I may be dreaming but it feels like more people are pushing back on NZ1st lies? Not to mention COVID measures having prepared us to hunker down eg combining trips instead of going out different times in one day 🤷🏻♀️
Thanks Cindy, good to see you here
It's all about getting re-elected and keeping the gravy train well oiled, a bit of misinformation never hurt anyone ?
It certainly helped RFK Jr. get a wider platform
Shame about the thousands of avoidable deaths due to the decline of vaccination rates
Well, well, well… So Jonesy sabotaged our own reserves?!
How very naughty of him.
Meanwhile, Derek Chang writing for NZ Herald tries to smear Chris Hipkins over a covid-related report from five years ago?!?
If only the media focused on stuff that really matters… fuel reserves. Electrification. Our addiction/reliance on fossil fuels. Wouldn't that be nice?
Winston is doing serious damage to NZ/Aotearoa s chances of getting through the current fuel crisis. As FM he is supposed to understand diplomacy but by doubling down on his offer of military support for the war of aggression being waged by the US/Israel, under the leadership of a child rapist and genocider regime, he has jeopardised any possibility of future transi of fuel through the Straight of Hormuz for Aotearoa.
From Iran:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/03/iran-war-trump-faffs-about-extending-deadline-for-strike-threat-by-10-days-as-us-military-and-energy-materials-shortfalls-and-shortages-expected-in-weeks-iran-allows-transit-of-trapped-friendly.html
Compare this with the principled and correct in international law stand made by Spanish 🇪🇸 PM Pedro Sánchez:
https://x.com/Timesofiraan/status/2037228506950869371
It bears repeating,again and again that this war resulted from attacks on Iran by the US/Israeli regime and it's timetable will not be determined by Trump but by Iran who sincerely wish ths to be the last war on them. They have planned this for decades and they will prevail.
This war resulted from "illegal" attacks on Iran……
This is part of their "Win the Election plan"
Winston covering for Shane's boo boo. Misinformation /mistruths/ outright lies!!!
Just as the attack on Chippie is to chip away at the women's vote, and the attack about vaccinations for youth, the youth vote. These are areas where Labour is ahead.
Their changes to enrollments, their non plan for the really poor for a Petrol subsidy, will allow the sorted with EV's and purchasing power, to vote.
They are the most sophisticated group of self servers we have seen., employing staff to 'influence and misdirect quite openly.
In an effort to not be Jacinda, they front the podium with waffle, and as Nick Rockel says in his post, they will let us know when things change, but are still working on steps 3 and 4.
Hey Ho. They have this sorted? Not really, and fudging and lies is all they can offer.
Given the date of the comment by Jones, 6 June 2024, any diesel fuel that had been in storage on that date would probably have been useless. It is possible to store it for more than 18 months but it would have to be in sealed, cool and dry conditions.
For example, one source says "Untreated diesel typically lasts 6–12 months, while properly stored and treated fuel can remain usable for 18–24 months before quality declines."
https://www.reactpower.com/blog/does-diesel-go-bad/
Other sources give similar results. That is more than motor spirit but still isn't that long.
With fuel stabilizers to prevent oxidation, biocides to prevent bacterial/fungal growth, and regular polishing to remove moisture and contaminants, diesel can be stored indefinitely.
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That link I provided says "The NFPA 110 standard recommends consuming or replacing stored diesel within 1.5 to 2 years, or sooner if conditions are less than optimal.".
I haven't worked in the Oil Industry for many years so I'm not in a position to comment. If you are a specialist in the field I'll assume that my link is just being conservative and that a long term reserve is a practical proposition.
The plan was to establish and maintain a reserve, you know, first in first out, rotating stock, etc etc, not a hoard.
/
So a rough calculation of a respectable would be.
Suppose we want 6 months supply. We use about 4 billion barrels/year so the reserve would need to be around 2 billion litres. Assume a cost of perhaps $1.80 a litre. That is the cost of the fuel overseas and the shipping to New Zealand. It doesn't have to include any of the New Zealand costs if we can assume it is stored near the port of landing.
If it is going to be held for that long the only viable purchaser would be the Government who would then sell it on to the retailer.
The cost of the reserve would be around $3.5 billion plus the cost of tanks. There are about 350 million litres unused storage at Marsden point so that we would need another 1,650 million litres more. I would be guessing but I would expect a few hundred million for the tanks and piping
It would seem we would have to put up something like $4 billion for a six month reserve. I see why Shane didn't seem to keen.
Again, read the Post.
The billions referred to the now-defunct Marsden Point Refinery and a possible re-opening of that.
The billions I am talking about have essentially nothing to do with Marsden Point. They are the amount it would cost to have an adequate reserve of Diesel fuel. The only way Marsden Point is involved is that they have some unused tanks that could hold about one sixth of the reserve I favour.
The IEA may have settled on a figure of 90 days. Given our distance from the rest of the world I wouldn't think that is an adequate figure if we want to have reserves close to NZ. That's why I suggested 180 days. What do you think is enough, and why do you pick the amount?
You came up with your own little fantasy story, figures and all. Then you ended with this fantastic concluding statement:
All pure fantasy concocted by you. So, why would Shane Jones be keen on that or not is just bizarre.
Wrong question to ask me. If you had actually read my recent comments and Post then you’d have known this.
Have you read the Post yet and got anything sensible to say about it?
And how long do you think that extra 70 million litres of reserve diesel would last?
As usual, you poorly inform yourself before you shoot off your mouth here.
What 70 million is that? That is only a week or so of use so it wouldn't be any sort of reserve.
The 70 million litres that Shane Jones referred to in his press release dated 6 June 2024.
Read the Post!
The 70 million is very useful in times like this. The govt says we are still in Level 1, but most countries are already taking significant measures to preserve fuel.
If the current supplies are what we have, and rationing ensued, that 70 million would make a significant difference.
But more than that it's just another example of the govt having acted in ways over the last 2 years that significantly degraded our readiness, from public transport cuts to tanking of EVs to cutting cycling and cancelling WFH etc
Alwyn – your comment is like someone storing water reserves during a drought and saying "Who cares, it's only 70 million litres of water"
Speaks for itself
Taking the MSO from 21 to 28 days.
What is an acceptable reserve? Are you suggesting it is 28 days? If that isn't enough what do you think is?
You still haven’t read the Post, obviously, nor informed yourself on the topic of discussion.
Shane Jones and NZ First cancelled it. Shane thinks it’s a “good compromise”; the IEA’s recommendation is 90 days.
How much more of our time are you planning to waste here?