Govt was ‘warned’ of L.P.G. shortage for tourist use

Press, 29 December 1979, Page 2

Govt was ‘warned’ of L.P.G. shortage for tourist use

Th* Government had been t«;d eariy this jear of impending difficulties about supplying liquefied petroleum gas to tourist industry: users in the South Island, but little has been done about it. This was the assertion yesterday of an official of a rental camper van company wnen a'ked about the effects on campers and holidaymakers of the seriously reduced supplies of L P.G. available for leisure” purposes Ine South Isiand manager of Tasman Tui Campers. Ltd (Mr J. Morrison), whose tamper-vans are equipped with L.P.G.. said his firm had experienced difficulties for the last year in obtaining regular and adequate supplies for its fleet. The company had been forced to air-freight the gas from the North Island, as did everybody else who desperate! - needed it, he said. This doubled the cost Of the gas When bulk tankers were not ab'e to cope with the demand, gas was air freighted to Christchurch in 1001 b cylinders, ard bottle' were

gravity-filled from these, a]< time-consuming job. < Mr Morrison said his com- i pany had written to the i Minister Of Tourism (Mr|| Cooper) earlier this year to] acquaint him with the prob-J em and seek help in obtain-]! ing adequate supplies for the I South Island, particularly the I tourist Industry. I* However, as far as" he] ] knew , the company had notjl had a reply. His firm had managed toll get enough of the fuel ftfrj 1 :ts camper vehicles "to tide]' us over,” so that they left : ' Christchurch with full gas * 1 bottles. 1 However, there were prob- 1 ■ lems when the vans ran out ‘ of gas when on tour and ’ could not be refilled. . The worst affected w - ere j ' those who stopped in remote , areas, where there were no j 'i regular bus services on j “ which his company could j ’’send filled cylinders. The • ' gas cylinders could not be ; consigned on conventional! , ’’aircraft. The acute shortage of, • L.P.G. in the South Island: • has not noticeably affected I ‘the numbers of caravannersli ■ion holiday this year. How-|t • ever, it has probably - made';

caravan owners and other campers using this fuel more dependent on community kitchens at camping ] grounds. ’ Forms of rationing have : had to be imposed, usually by retail outlets supplying perhaps half a tank of the gas instead of a full tank to caravan owners and others ! seeking it for “leisure” purposes. Before the holiday season Rockgas. Ltd, One of the main suppliers of the gas, advised that there was a shortage of gas for “reasons beyond its control.” Although it was doing all it could to relieve the situation, rationing had to be introduced. The company’s South Island manager (Mr R. J. Boyce) said the shortage w - as caused by the Kapuni production being insufficient to meet the demand; the expansion of the market for the gas throughout New Zealand because of the Ira■nian oil situation; shipping problems; and insufficient tankers. Mr Boyce said the demand had increased rapidly, because of the oil situation, and about twice as much gas as could be supplied was needed to meet the demand. Industrial users were given preference. Many more caravans were equipped With L.P.G. today than there we're two years ago, and the number was increasing steadily, thus aggravating the difficulties in meeting the demand. Mr Boyce predicted that in 1980 greater supplies would become available on the South Island market. A spokesman for New Zealand Industrial Gases, Ltd, said supplies of the gas were limited but this company - was managing to supply - domestic users, including campers. In some cases, cylinders were being half-filled.

■The supply to domestic consumers had been helped in the holiday period by - the I reduced demand from industrial users.